Holiday safety tips from Davenport Police
Davenport Police offered several tips to stay safe this holiday season.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - The holiday season is upon us and Davenport Police are making sure that residents of the Quad Cities are staying safe and vigilant as crime rates go up during this time of year.
Davenport Police held a Q & A about holiday safety on Tuesday. The full Q & A can be found below:
Q: What tips and tricks are there for countering porch pirates?
A: One of the easiest things to do is if you have bigger ticket items, would be to require a signature. So that way, you can guarantee that you are going to be there when the package arrives and signed for it. So it doesn’t sit on your porch or just out in front of your house or anywhere like that, which is an easy grab for thieves. One of the things that you can do is you can actually sign up for some of the carrier spots like the FedEx or UPS has places like that they can actually deliver the packages to those locations, secure that for you. And then they will you can pick up from there, which is obviously very secure as well. And finally, one of the other things that we stress is one of the things that we’d like to see is have a doorbell camera, or some sort of camera on your residency.
Q: What can I do to protect myself if I’m out shopping and have lots to carry?
A: One of the things to remember is to don’t overburden yourself with too many packages. By carrying too many packages it makes you a little bit vulnerable, with your purse, your wallets, things like that. So that way you don’t have free hands too. People can see that and take advantage of you while you’re struggling to deal with some of those things. Some of the other things that we tried to make sure that we instill in people is be aware of your surroundings while you’re out shopping. Try not to be buried in your phone, texting, talking on the phone, things like that. be constantly aware of what’s around you.
Q: What can I do if I’m going on vacation or leaving the house for the day?
A: Don’t advertise when you’re not home. People can know when you’re not home if they track you through social media. By advertising that you’re out of town for the holidays, it makes you an easy target because burglars prefer empty, unlocked doors. So keep those doors locked as well. If you have lights on timers, please use those. Leave TVs on when you can to try to give the impression that you’re home. But don’t leave these things 24 hours a day because they do scout areas to see what’s the easiest and most likely to be empty house to break into. Also, once you get all those great items for Christmas, all the presents, don’t pile all the boxes into the recycle bin outside. Leaving them on the curbside advertises what it is that you got for Christmas and those great presents could disappear quite quickly.
Q: Are doorbell cameras useful for catching thieves?
A: If you do happen to have a doorbell camera and you feel comfortable, please register them with our police department. We have a camera registration and when give you the address as far as what that is? And we’ll be able to, it would, it would be of great benefit for us if we have to do these investigations to know that you have cameras or cameras in the neighborhood, which might help your fellow neighbors into solving crimes.
Q: How common are porch pirates?
A: There is a fair amount of porch piracy. It’s unfortunately, it’s just so tempting to some folks that it does happen quite frequently. We’ve done investigations which have shown that they’ve followed the drivers, but for the most part, from what I see, it’s, they just see packages staying just out in the open and that’s like super easy grabs.
Q: How does law enforcement plan to contain porch pirates?
A: First and foremost, we’re trying to get the word out through here like this. Right. Prevention’s the best way to keep it from actually becoming a victim. And what we don’t want is to have to be reactionary to all these. So hopefully, people will get the message here and say, hey, oh, I remember that guy on the news saying some things maybe I should lock it up and or cover it up in my car, or whatever it is lock it in my trunk when I’m out shopping, stuff like that. But from there, we will investigate all of these porch piracy thefts, that, that we can. So after that, then it’s about trying to identify and then arrest that person.
Q: With people warming up their cars and leaving keys in cars, thefts go up significantly during the winter months. How can this be avoided?
A: I will never not take the opportunity to plead with people, please, please do not leave your keys in the vehicle. Even if it’s just in your garage. Unfortunately, people have a tendency to not always shut the garage or an animal will come in. And we’ll catch on the sensor and they’ll gradually pop up. Warming car up is the easiest way to get your car stolen if you don’t have a remote start that has your vehicle lock because some vehicles still can actually take off even without the key. So please make sure that you know what your car can and can’t do. But for the most part, it’s one of the most preventable things that we can do is by not leaving keys in the car or leaving the car running.
Q: Do you have any tips for people who might live inside of a apartment complex when it comes to not having your packages stolen?
A: First of all, talk with your landlord see what he can and it can’t do for you. I know some places have locked boxes for their tenants where the FedEx ups guys and gals will come in and actually put it in there. But otherwise, the ones in the complexes are the most important ones to get the signatures for, or drop it off at one of those secure locations.
Q: What should you do if you catch a porch pirate in the act?
A: That’s the biggest thing to understand is you don’t know how desperate this type of person is that’s already coming up to porch and doing those types of things. So we would encourage everyone to be a good witness call 911. Be able to describe where they’re going which way they’re going. If they’re living in a vehicle get a good description of that good description of the person. It’s whatever like that comfort level is with with you as a person. Like I said, however, they said I would refrain against trying to go out and grab them yourselves.
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