Uptick in Theft and Burglary

 

 

If you follow the posts we do over Facebook and Twitter you’ll know that the top three crime calls from San Tan Heights have changed. They used to be (in order from highest to lowest in the top three) theft, criminal damage and burglary.

That changed in the last four weeks; burglary got knocked out for the first time ever and fraud calls jumped way up to almost double of the levels in 2012 while burglary calls were down in comparison to 2012.

This post was supposed to be about fraud prevention, tips, links to credit agencies and similar things. Unfortunately we got hit hard this last week with above average thefts and burglaries and I don’t even have Friday – Sunday media alerts yet from the PCSO.

To put this into perspective here is a chart showing numbers for the last two weeks and the average four week span in 2012.

Last 2 weeks	Average 4 week period in 2012
Burglary     6 calls	3.4 calls
Theft           5 calls	6.3 calls

I can see burglary getting back into the top three crime calls in the next four weeks. But the bigger picture is that we have a lot of new crimes occurring in San Tan Heights. Some of those calls were reporting crimes that happened overnight. Two involved the stealing of guns, one was a vehicle.

• If you can not park in your garage, park under a light. If you are in the middle of a street I would encourage you to put high wattage light bulbs in your carriage lights and ask your neighbors to do the same. Just light up your street and most criminals will just move on.
• Don’t leave any valuables visible when you leave your car. Even the small stuff will invite someone who is looking for something bigger.
• If you have an alarm (home or auto), set it. There was an auto alarm call recently and the owner got a description of the person leaving. It works.
• If you see something suspicious do not wait for someone else to call it in because they are probably waiting for someone else to call it in as well.

We are all responsible for the safety and protection of our family and property.

Take the initiative; If You See Something, Say Something.