It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but all of that festive cheer can come at a cost.
Plant City Police Department is on high alert to ensure local residents stay safe this holiday season. PCPD Spokesperson Al Van Duyne said the patrol captains and Chief Duncan encourage the officers to be as visible as possible this season. Everyone from traffic officers to patrol officers and even detectives are doing extra patrols in shopping plazas and neighborhoods to deter wrongdoing.
The officers spend slightly less time focused on traffic to ensure they are being visible in town, but it’s all based on the call volume PCPD receives. Taking the time to practice simple safety techniques could make the difference between a merry and disastrous holiday.
“It seems like every year there’s something new we have to contend with,” Van Duyne said. “Most of the information are things people know, but I think they forget. Plant City is a great town, it’s a relatively safe town and people sometimes get too comfortable and forget to take necessary precautions.”
He said each holiday season they see a slight uptick in crimes, somewhere between 3% and 5%, but that it varies from year to year. The majority of the holiday woes come in the form of break-ins to cars and garages. Homes tend to be one of the lesser issues, but if not properly secured, can become easy targets.
In an echo of a sentiment that has been repeated numerous times by local law enforcement, locking vehicles is key to preventing theft. Van Duyne said in many of the densely populated parking lots like at malls or shopping plazas, there are too many people around for a thief to take the time to break a window or use a slim jim to unlock a door.
If they walk by and notice a vehicle is unlocked, however, they can quickly remove any items in sight without raising alarms. PCPD recommends hiding any belongings you may have purchased at a prior location either in the trunk or the front floorboard of the car. If you have a hatchback consider using a cover to keep stored items from view. As tempting as it may be to do all of your shopping in one day, that could spell disaster if you’re picking up large items.
Time is of the essence and Van Duyne said any expensive or physically massive gifts should be taken home immediately following purchase rather than left in plain view in the vehicle.
Personal safety also comes into play as hordes of people flock to finish their last minute shopping. So much of it revolves around being aware of your surroundings. Van Duyne said no one type of person is targeted more than others, but those who are bogged down with gifts or distracted make easy victims.
Shop with a buddy and park near visible cameras or in busy parking lots. Avoid “recluse spots” and don’t shop with large purses. Wrist wallets or cross body bags with strong straps and hooks are the best as they don’t get in the way.
If you do shop alone carry mace or pepper spray and stay in groups as much as you can. He recommends wearing comfortable clothes and secure footwear in the event the worst case scenario ensues and you get involved in a “tussle.” While he can’t tell people what to do he said no item of monetary value is worth a life. He recommends letting them take the items and then as they flee whip out your phone and film their getaway. Make an effort to remember their description and then call the police.
Holiday traffic is one of the worst safety concerns. Just this weekend there were 26 crashes between Friday and Sunday in Plant City. People rush, they run red lights, they’re on their phone and don’t see the slowing vehicles ahead of them. It’s chaos and Van Duyne said it only get’s worse the closer we get to Christmas.
“Get your holiday shopping done as soon as possible,” he said. “Drive with the mindset that people are going to make mistakes. Give yourself a little more following distance, don’t take off as soon as the light turns green, slow down. Sure Plant City has a 40,000 plus population, but we see more traffic because we have roads like I-4 and (US) 92. Of every 10 crashes, seven to eight are careless driving.”
Once you’re home he said always make sure the garage is closed and locked. No matter how safe you feel in Plant City it’s important to take time to make sure you and your family are safe.
He said some of these criminals are coming from Polk County and Brandon. Plant City is in the middle of a lot of busy areas and people come to drive through neighborhoods and see what they can find.
When homes are broken into it is normally because of two easily preventable things. Either a door connecting to an unsecured garage was left unlocked or a sliding glass door was not properly fastened. Throughout the course of the year, he said PCPD often deals with instances where families leave side doors unlocked so children can get in easily when they come home from school. Instead, buy the kid a spare key. It can save the entire family thousands in lost goods.
Around the holidays, many people with large bay windows will leave the curtains open to show off their trees and holiday decor. While it definitely adds to the holiday aesthetic, it also allows criminals to see first-hand the layout and prospective goodies of your home.
The locks on sliding doors are flimsy at best. If yours comes with a chain, lock it. Otherwise, purchase a wedge or make your own from a cut broom handle or plank of wood to place in the track of the door. It’s a cheap but simple way to ensure it isn’t opened in the dead of night.
If you can afford it, invest in an alarm system and activate it every single time you leave the house. Take photos of every holiday decoration in your yard, write down the make, model and serial number of any large ticket items you purchase as gifts or already have in your home. That way, if you are unfortunate enough to become a victim of theft you can go to officers with the exact description of what is gone. If “a 48-inch Roku TV” is all they have to go off of odds are you aren’t getting it back.
“Sometimes the small tips added together is what helps us ‘crack a case,’” Van Duyne said. “What often happens is we will pull someone over for a routine traffic stop — say they have a headlight out or are speeding — and we’ll notice something suspicious like a bunch of decorations piled in their truck bed or that the vehicle matches a description we have from someone that called in a tip. Or if I don’t have anything to detain them that day, but then two days later you call in saying the decorations I saw are missing, we now have a lead.”