From Minneapolis Police Department:
We need your help! We are seeing an uptick in burglaries, specifically garage burglaries. Many of these involve no force. This means that either doors are left open or unlocked. Bicycles still seem to be the most commonly stolen item from the garages.
We need our Community Partners to get the word out.
Let everyone on your block know:
1. Lock your garage doors and make sure they shut completely as you’re leaving. Don’t be in such a hurry that you drive away while your garage door is shutting. The door sensors may trip and leave your garage open all day.
2. Keep your garage doors locked and shut even when you are home. We have had people working in their front yards be victims of garage burglaries. They leave the garage open after getting gardening tools out and go to the front yard. The opportunist walks through the alley and sees the open garage and in seconds takes a bike.
3. Keep your house doors locked even when working in the yard. Don’t leave your front door vulnerable and unlocked while you work in the back yard.
4. Watch for ANY suspicious activity/behavior on your block. If you see ANYTHING suspicious please call 911. Don’t be afraid to use 911 to let us know something suspicious is happening on your block. You are our partners, we need you to call.
5. Be a good witness. Get as much description as you can. Observe any physical features of suspicious parties, clothing, vehicles, tattoo’s, license plates and any other information that can help us locate or identify the person. I have attached a good form to have handy to make notes on what you saw.
6. Attend your neighborhood Crime & Safety Committee meeting. (3rd Tuesday, 7 pm, MLK Park.) Be informed and help keep your neighbors informed.
7. Make sure your motion lights work and that when they go off at night, you or your neighbors pay attention to why they went off.
8. Cut down foliage that is blocking lines of site. We need you to be able to watch out for your neighbors and your neighbors to be able to watch out for you.
9. Stay in contact with your neighbors and welcome anyone who has recently moved in (or those you haven’t met yet that have been there for a while).
Again, please call 911 with suspicious person/activity complaints if you see something out of the ordinary.
For questions, contact:
Tom Thompson, Crime Prevention Specialist
Minneapolis Police Department, 5th Precinct
(612) 673-2823