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Crime Prevention Tips
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One
of the best ways we can convey to you to prevent yourself from being a
victim of a theft or a burglary is taking a few common sense steps:
- Lock your home up when you leave
for the day or evening.
- Make sure all windows and doors
are properly secured.
- Leaving
a light on or a radio playing or making use of automatic timers are a
good way of giving your home the appearance of a lived in look while
away for extended periods of time.
- Let a trusted neighbor
know when you will be gone on vacation and have them pick up your mail
or newspaper or even have the mail and paper stopped while away.
House
Watch:
One
service that the APD offers its citizens is our House Watch list. The
APD, at no cost to its citizens, will periodically check your home
throughout the day and night while you're on out of town. All a
resident have to do is stop in or call the office and provide the
Police Dept. with your name, address, time when you will be leaving and
when you will return. We would also request any names and phone numbers
of any contact persons you will place in charge of your home while
you're away. It's simple and it's an effective crime prevention service
provided to you.
Prevention
tips pertaining to motor vehicles:
Avoid
leaving your keys in your vehicle or leaving your vehicle unlocked
while at your home or while you're in the store. Avoid leaving
valuables like removable cassette, CD players, I-pods or MP3 players in
your vehicle. Cameras, cell phones, billfolds, purses, CD,or I-pods, to
mention a few, should be taken in for the evening if your vehicle is
parked outside for the night at your home or apartment. Even if your
vehicle is locked up, items such as these, lying out in the open or on
the seats or floor of the vehicle are an open invitation for a thief to
break into your vehicle by smashing the window out.
Prevention tips pertaining to
bicycles:
Avoid
leaving your bicycle outside with out a lock. Place your
bicycle
in a garage or house if you do not have a lock. Another
service
that the APD offers its citizens is our Bicycle Registration list. The
APD, at no cost to its citizens, will register your bicycle with our
computer system and issue you a sticker that helps identify who the
bicycle belongs to. All a resident has to do is stop in or call the
Police Department with your bicycle you would like to
register.
We take a description of your bicycle including size, make, model, and
serial number; along with your name, address, and phone number. We then
issue your bicycle a sticker with a number to quick identify your
bicycle. All information is entered into our database and
when
your bicycle has been lost or stolen we can pull the registration
information up. This also assists our department in
identifying
recovered bicycles.
If
you become a victim of a crime such as these,
here's what you should do:
We
know it can be extremely embarrassing having to report that you have
been a victim of a theft or burglary, but this should not deter you
from reporting it to the police. Please report it as soon as possible.
You may think that the person or persons who had done this might never
be caught thus the reason for not reporting it. There have been a
number of incidents where we have solved crimes that have been
committed by a perpetrator and have subsequently recovered stolen
property of other persons who have reported their crimes. Quite often
the perpetrators commit more than just one crime. They're often found
with a cache of valuables, known or thought to be stolen and the only
way to match up
recovered stolen
property with their owners are to
report when you have been a victim.
Make
a practice of recording the following information
on your property:
- Record the serial numbers
of your valuables
- Record the make, model and a
description of the valuables
- Take photos of your personal
property, especially jewelry and keep them on file
Any questions?
Call the APD at 402.694.5815 |
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715 12th St., Aurora, NE
68818 | 402.694.5815 | apd@hamilton.net
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