Crime Prevention Tips 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

715 12th St., Aurora, NE 68818  |  402.694.5815  |  apd@hamilton.net