Precinct 5 PENS July 2019
Welcome to this month’s PENS, Police Email Notification System bulletin. This monthly bulletin is brought to you from the Cobb County Police, Precinct 5 Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU5) and is designed to keep you aware of safety alerts and crime trends in your area and measures you can take to keep you and your family safe.
Public Safety Topic of the Month
As most of you know that read the Precinct 5 Monthly PENS Bulletin, we have had a huge increase in Entering Autos (Car Break-ins). The numbers show that there have been approximately 240 Entering Autos reported in Precinct 5 over the past 6 months. Approximately 98% of all the vehicles broken into were unlocked and out of the 240 Entering Autos, 22 guns were taken.
Over the past several months the Precinct 5 Criminal Investigation Unit Detectives (CIU5), uniform patrol, and special operations have been actively working to identify and arrest all of the responsible offenders. I have been sending out repeated requests on Nextdoor.com to the citizens of Precinct 5 to lock their vehicle doors and remove any valuables anytime they are away from their vehicles. We also had a Precinct 5 Community Meeting on June 26th that was very well attended and I want to thank all of you that attended. Our goal is to not give the offenders a reason to come to our community and commit these crimes. We all have to do our part to ensure the safety of our community.
Investigation Updates
- 6/18/2019: CIU 5 Detectives obtained arrest warrants for two males responsible for approximately 10 daytime Entering Autos at the West Cobb Aquatic Center.
- 6/22/2019: CIU 5 Detectives arrested two males that are responsible for approximately 10 overnight Residential Entering Autos and 1 Burglary.
- 6/26/2019: CIU 5 Detectives arrested two males that are responsible for approximately 80 overnight Residential Entering Autos. Crimes Against Persons charged the same two males with Aggravated Assault.
- 7/11/2019: Six of the twenty-two stolen guns have been recovered.
Current Crime Trends
Entering Autos
Ladies and Gentlemen, our current crime trends continue to be Entering Autos. The bulk of the Entering Autos are taking place overnight and early in the morning. The majority of all the Entering Autos have been UNLOCKED vehicles with valuables including guns left inside. PLEASE remove all valuables especially guns from your vehicles every time you park and leave the vehicle. Also, double check that ALL vehicle doors are locked.
We have recently had some Entering Autos at County Parks and Aquatic Centers. The offenders have been “punching” the locks out to gain access to the vehicles. If you can, take valuables with you or leave them at home prior to visiting the parks and aquatic centers. Also, keep an eye out for people loitering in the parking lots and waiting for people to leave. If you suspect suspicious activity please call 911.
If you observe someone breaking into vehicles do not approach them and immediately call 911. From a safe place provide 911 with an accurate description of the suspects, involved vehicles, and what direction the suspect is going. NO property is worth getting hurt over.
Mail Theft
CIU 5 is reaching out in hopes of obtaining footage or information that may help in our investigation of recent mail thefts in Brookstone, The Preserve at Creekside, and Chestatee Creek subdivisions over the last few months. The offenders will often use rental or new vehicles with dealer paper tags. The last incident occurred on 7/12/19 and involved a new black Dodge Charger with a paper tag occupied by a younger male. Anyone with video or information please contact Detective Christopher O’Barr at 770-499-3982 or christopher.obarr@cobbcounty.org.
What You Can Do
Burglary Prevention
- Lock your doors, including the one from the garage
- Keep garage doors closed-check before bed every night
- Motion sensor activated lighting
- Surveillance cameras
Entering Auto Prevention
- Lock your vehicles and remove items of value and items that appear to contain valuables.
- If you can’t keep them with you, secure your valuables in the trunk before reaching your location.
- Keep your vehicle locked and your purse or wallet on your person while fueling at the gas station.
Postal Theft
- Anti-Theft mailboxes with a special locking system
- Security Cameras
- Do not raise the mail flag
- Do not send cash, checks, or anything that has credit card information
Remember to CALL 911 to report any suspicious persons or activity. If you see something, say something!
Cobb County Camera Registry
The Cobb County Police Camera Registration program is a police/community video partnership that operates on a voluntary basis with homeowners, neighborhoods and business owners who own private video surveillance systems. We encourage both businesses and residents to register their cameras online by completing the form below.
This program is intended to let our officers know where cameras are active in the county in case a crime occurs. It is not intended for active surveillance, and officers will not have direct access to homeowners' cameras. Those who register a camera will be contacted if a crime occurs in the vicinity of that camera.
Information provided by residents and businesses will be maintained in a secure database.
If you have not already signed up to receive the monthly PENS updates, please subscribe. Feel free to forward this e-mail to your HOA members and local businesses.
PENS is also sending out bulletins and alerts through its partnership with Nextdoor.com. Discover if your neighborhood is already signed up so you may join. If not, they will provide you with the necessary information.
Stay Safe,
Det. Lieutenant J.B Wade
Det. Sergeant W.R. Pettitt
Det. Sergeant R.E. Hecksher
Criminal Investigation Unit Pct. 5
4640 Dallas Highway
Powder Springs, GA 30127
(770) 499-4578