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

Safety Tips for Fall Break Crime Prevention

1. Never advertise you are leaving town: Don’t broadcast that you and your family will be away. Wait until after your trip to share updates and photos on social media. Remind your children not to Facebook, blog, or tweet your family’s absence from home.
2. Create the illusion of occupancy: While away cancel delivery of mail and newspaper or arrange for a neighbor to pick them up.
3. Lights: Put inside and outside lights on a timer to establish a look of occupancy. A timer on your TV so it’s on when you’d normally be watching TV is also a good idea.
4. Lock all windows and doors: Keep valuables away from windows, lower blinds and close curtains so passers-by can’t view these items. Remember, a significant amount of crime can be deterred if homeowners do not create easy opportunities for the criminal element.
5. Garage: Keep your car locked and the windows up even if its parked in the garage, and take your keys with you. If your house is broken into, there is no need to provide the thief with a car. You may also want to un-plug your garage door opener and lock the garage door while out of town.
6. Trust a neighbor: Make sure a dependable neighbor watches your house, has a house key, and has your cell number in case of any home emergency. Also make sure your neighbor has a way to shut off any alarms.
7. Utilities: It’s always a good idea to turn back the temperature of your water heater, shut off the water to your washing machine (washing machine hose breaks are at the top of the list when it comes to home damage costs).

What You Can Do

Burglary Prevention

• Lock your doors, including the one from the garage.
• Keep garage doors closed-check before bed every night.
• Use motion sensor-activated lighting.
• Use 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

• Use anti-theft mailboxes with a special locking system.
• Use 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.

Online Registration Form

 

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 T.M. Fuller
Det. Sergeant T.J. Richie
Cobb County Police Department
Criminal Investigation Unit Pct. 5
4640 Dallas Highway
Powder Springs, GA 30127
(770) 499-4578