Precinct 5 PENS May 2020
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
In late April 2020, Precinct 5 Criminal Investigation Unit received a report about a retired couple that had their Ring Doorbell Camera stolen from their home. The couple decided to downsize from one house in Cobb County to a different house in Cobb County, and in the middle of the move they noticed that someone had stolen their Ring camera. CIU 5 detectives investigated the theft and ran into a dead end. During the investigation, the Ring Doorbell Company donated several new Ring Doorbell Cameras to the Cobb County Community Affairs Unit so the Police Department could hand them out to citizens that needed them. The Precinct 5 Criminal Investigation Unit decided to take one of the Ring doorbell cameras and give it to the retired couple.
Current Crime Trends
Entering Autos
Ladies and Gentlemen, our current crime trends continue to be Entering Autos incidents. The bulk of the incidents are taking place overnight and early in the morning. The majority of all the Entering Autos incidents 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.
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.
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
Criminal Investigation Unit Pct. 5
4640 Dallas Highway
Powder Springs, GA 30127
(770) 499-4578