Uptick in burglaries reported in Mason
There has been an increase in residential burglaries throughout the Mason District in recent weeks, reports Brendan T. Murphy, crime prevention officer in the Mason District Police Station. “Most of them have been during the day, and items like electronics and jewelry seem to be the goodies of choice,” he says.
The Police Department provides free security assessments in your home on request, with recommendations on locks, lighting, landscaping, windows, doors, and alarms. For more information, contact the Mason station, 703/256-8035.
Warmer weather means spending more time outside, so if you’re going on vacation, working in your yard, or walking your dog, Murphy recommends the following precautions:
- Lock your home and car – even if it’s just for a few minutes,
- Set your alarm (if you have one).
- Let a neighbor know you may be leaving for an extended amount of time.
- Mark, identify, photograph, and inventory jewelry and other valuables in your home, noting the model and serial numbers of electronics.
- Hide your valuable jewelry and put costume jewelry in your jewelry box.
3 responses to “Uptick in burglaries reported in Mason”
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Burglaries in March were up 9 percent over March 2011, said Captain Gun Lee, commander of the Mason Police District April 4. All but one of the burglaries last month targeted single-family houses; one was a townhouse. They appear to be knocking on doors to look for vacant houses. Lee urges residents to write down descriptions of suspicious people and their license tags.
Your community Neighborhood Watch is always in need of more folks to help out. If your area does not have a NW, think about starting one…help/instruction is given at your local police station. Or become a "window watcher" and if you see someone or something suspicious, call the non-emergency number for the police..703-691-2131. If you "see it..say it"…it'll be checked out.
And then there is the man who was walking into yards in our neighborhood today. I think he was foraging for bamboo shoots, but trespassing and jumping fences is not the way to do that. I called the cops, for his own safety as well as for that of my neighbors.