Deputies share ways to stay safe
Crimes can increase during holiday season
LANCASTER — Safety was the main topic of discussion during the Coffee with a Captain, Monday morning.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Lancaster Station hosted the virtual event on Facebook, with Community Relations/ Public Information Officer Ali Villalobos and Capt. Todd Weber fielding questions from the public, along with a handful of deputies.
As the holidays approach, it’s not uncommon for crimes to increase, so the staff at Lancaster Station took time to address some of the issues they encounter and offer tips on how to avoid becoming a victim.
Deputy Green, the station’s watch deputy said calls reporting burglaries and vandalism to vehicles are common because people leave presents in their cars when they are out shopping.
“There’s a lot of confusion and it gives criminals time to scope out and figure out how to best victimize someone,” he said.
If you need to report a crime of this nature, make sure you have the location of the crime, a suspect description, whether they had a weapon and the direction in which they fled, available. This information is important so deputies can respond appropriately.
Deputy Fuleki offered some safety tips for shopping this holiday season:
• Be aware of your surroundings.
• Designate a meeting point if your children get separated from you, so you can find each other.
• Don’t carry too many items when you are shopping with children.
• Don’t carry too much cash.
• Once you’re done shopping, make sure you have your vehicle keys in hand, so once you get to the vehicle, you can put your children and items in without having to search for keys.
“If you need to leave gifts in the car, put them in the trunk or out of sight,” Fuleki said. “So if they peer in the windows, they can’t see anything of value.”
She also reminded shoppers not to leave children in a car that’s running, even if it’s just to return a shopping cart.
“We hate to see a child in a vehicle, especially in a running vehicle,” Villalobos said. “Don’t leave your child alone in a running vehicle.”
Deputy Goffigan said another issue the department sees frequently is vehicles being stolen because they were left running, to warm up in the morning.
He said even if the vehicle is in the garage, it’s not safe if it’s left unattended.
“You won’t see the person who sees you,” Goffigan said. “It only takes a second to walk in the garage and take the car.”
This time of year also brings out package thieves, so Deputy Gonzales took a moment to offer some tips on having packages delivered and not becoming a victim of theft.
“Everyone works, so not everyone is at home to see the packages delivered, which makes it easy for thieves to see the boxes on the doorstep,” he said.
Some of the safety tips Gonzales offered were:
• Have packages delivered to your place of employment, if possible.
• Have a neighbor who’s at home during the day pick them up from your doorstep once they’ve arrived.
• Have packages delivered to an Amazon locker (if applicable) or a post office box
• Shop at stores that offer curbside pick up, so packages don’t have to be delivered.
• Use a tracking number to track your package
Villalobos said tracking a package is especially helpful because if you are expecting a delivery and have time, you could possibly run home on a lunch break and pick it up.
Weber reminded the public that the breakdown of boxes is also important, to keep thieves away.
“It doesn’t end when you get the box,” he said. “Sooner or later, all boxes go in the garbage. Take the time to break them down and throw them in the garbage.”
He said opportunists oftentimes see big boxes, such as those from TVs and know what is in the home.
“It’s a pain — it might take two or three weeks to break them down, but it’ll be worth it in the long run,” Weber said.
Villalobos said consumers must be cautious when shopping online, as well. It’s important to make sure there is a lock symbol in the top, right corner of the web page you are visiting. This ensures that you are visiting a secure site.
“If it’s too good of a deal, its probably too good,” she said.
She also cautioned against those sites that redirect you to other web pages, after you click on an item.
“Don’t store your credit card information on anything,” Villalobos said.
Women can also become theft victims while shopping in stores because they tend to leave their purses in the shopping cart.
She said if you are going to do that, make sure all zippers, latches and other openings in the purse are closed and that you don’t leave it in the child seat of the shopping cart.
Putting essential cards in a phone case and just carrying that or downsizing to a cross-body bag are a couple of tips to avoid carrying a big purse while out shopping.
Sometimes people don’t realize they’ve had a credit card stolen until it’s too late.
“This scam comes up every year,” Weber said. “They’ll wait until a woman is distracted, then steal a credit card out of a purse. Then they rush down to Walmart and other stores in the strip mall and make purchases before you can even get out and pay for groceries.”
He said everything else is left undisturbed, so many times, people don’t notice that one card has been taken.
Goffigan said taking only what is needed for the shopping trip is the best idea.
“Birth certificates, Social Security cards, that stuff stays at home,” he said.
Theft isn’t limited to purses and credit cards.
“People are stealing through Bluetooth, too and Apple Pay,” Goffigan said. “Don’t have your Bluetooth on the entire time you’re walking through the store.”