The following update first appeared in the South Brentwood Residents Association’s (SBRA) latest newsletter. To learn more about the SBRA, southbrentwood.org.
Brentwood has experienced a 5.6 % decrease in part one crimes compared to the same time last year. Burglary and grand theft auto are our biggest increase (+26 % Burglary and +10% GTA).
The best burglary prevention is always making sure doors, windows and access point to the property are locked especially when not at home. Also making sure alarms and security cameras are in proper working order.
If you have a doorbell camera and it is activated, make sure you respond in some way to give the impression that you are home even if you are miles away.
Residents with two story homes make sure any ladders are locked and secured to prevent burglars from easily accessing the second story.
If you have a safe make sure it is secured to the floor or wall to prevent it from being pried up. Lastly if you are out of town make sure mail and newspapers are picked up ASAP and if possible, have a neighbor park their vehicle in your driveway to give the illusion that you are home.
Our other crime that is up is our GTA (grand theft auto), approx. 40% of stolen vehicles had the vehicle keys or key fob left inside the vehicle. These crimes could have been prevented by just locking the car and taking the keys.
Owners of BMW and Range Rovers need to make sure they lock the vehicle s as the criminals know that the mirrors automatically fold when locked and if they see the mirrors out they know the car is unlocked. It makes an easy target for thieves. And finally, always make sure that any property that is left in the car is locked in the trunk or at least out of site as to not tempt a thief.
This year our overall theft is down 21% which is great. I just want to remind those that live in apartment building and condo building with lobbies to make sure that package deliveries are picked up ASAP or delivered in a locked closet that is out of site from prying eyes. As the holiday season gets closer, the amount of deliveries will increase, which is the time when package thieves hit. Let’s not give them easy targets with a lobby full of packages.
