Modified: Dec 9, 2004 3:00 AM
Don't let your gifts get away
Staying Safe - Theft from vehicles
By OREN DORELL, Staff Writer
While you're window-shopping at the mall this holiday season, criminals
might be window-shopping in the parking lot.
Police say the most common property crime, theft from motor vehicles,
becomes even more of a risk to shoppers during the holiday shopping season
-- and it's easy to thwart.
"[Shoppers] have to secure their valuables out of plain sight,"
said Rusty Clark, a crime prevention officer for the Raleigh Police Department.
People tend to go on shopping sprees with long holiday gift lists in their
hands, buying presents for others until their arms are full, then unloading
their burdens at their cars before heading back for more. And the thieves
are watching, Clark said.
The stores and malls work to do their part to thwart the thieves.
Christy Alphin, marketing director at Raleigh's Crabtree Valley Mall,
said vehicle break-ins there have not increased since the beginning of
this year's shopping season but mall security is always vigilant.
Mall police and security guards patrol the parking areas on foot and in
cars, and someone is monitoring exterior and interior common areas with
a remote security camera 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Alphin said.
Law officers across the Triangle increase patrols in parking lots and
malls looking for suspicious people, but they can't be everywhere all
the time. Officers depend on residents and motorists to report unusual
behavior.
Shoppers should travel in groups so they can share their burdens, and
they should go to the car only once, when they are finished shopping for
the day, Clark said.
Thieves often work in pairs, with one person meandering through parking
lots spotting goods to steal and the other committing the theft. Shoppers
should be suspicious of anyone who appears to be wandering around parked
cars looking through car windows or standing in a parking lot without
a clear purpose. Real shoppers tend to park and head straight for the
stores.
Sometimes a thief might carry or wear a heavy jacket, which is used to
muffle the sound of breaking glass, he said.
And motorists should remember that something they may consider worthless
could be seen as a possible treasure to a drug-addled or mentally defective
thief.
"You may have an empty gym bag in your car, of no value, so don't
lock it in your trunk," Clark said. "A criminal may see [it
as] a bag full of money."
The result can end up costing the owner money and aggravation to replace
a broken window.
"It's a preventable crime," Clark said. "It just requires
that we as a community just stay on our toes."
Staff writer Oren Dorell can be reached at 829-8963 or at odorell@newsobserver.com.
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