Avoiding Christmas Crooks

Memorial Villages ​p​olice chief J.D. Sanders and West University ​p​olice ​chief Ken Walker (from left) share holiday safety concerns for their residents. (Photo: stpimages.com)

I’m the worst about forgetting to fill the car with gas. I’ve actually run out, car totally dead, more than a couple of times. So last April, as I rushed from a meeting to carpool, I made a quick stop that I really didn’t have time for, trying to be on top of things.

I drove into the station talking on my phone, grabbed a credit card from my wallet, and slung my purse into the front passenger’s seat. I got the gas pumping, then sat in my car with the doors locked until it finished. When it did, I got out of the car, locked the doors, and put the gas cap back on. Ten seconds, maybe. Getting back in the car, it took a few seconds to process that my passenger’s window was now in pieces in the front seat, where my purse used to be. This all happened while I was standing there, on the other side of the car. I never saw anyone. Never heard anything.

It’s pretty scary to think that people would be so brazen – I was standing right there. And then there was the cost of it all. Just the purse and wallet alone were worth something. Add to that the credit-card charges that happened within the 30 minutes it took to call the banks, the new locks on my home doors (they had my address, house keys and security-system remote), the new car window and all the other myriad valuable junk crammed in my purse, and I think the bad guys probably made about $8,000 in 30 minutes. Not to mention the headache of changing every account, every auto-pay.

That afternoon, after a dear friend picked up my carpools at two schools, I called my friend Alan Rosen, Harris County constable for Precinct One. His advice: First, call the neighborhood police and ask them to put an alert on my house; second, call one of the credit companies – Equifax, Experian or TransUnion – to put a fraud alert on my credit, so that if anyone tried to open accounts in my name, the banks would have to call me first for approval.

I wanted to understand where I had gone wrong. I locked the doors, sat in the car. Wasn’t that what I was supposed to do? Apparently, I made three fatal mistakes. One, I put my purse on the front seat, after digging through it so anyone could see. I should have put it behind my seat, or better yet, I shouldn’t have had a big purse at all. Two, I got self-serve gas on the side of the freeway. Stick to the neighborhood pumps – especially ones that have surveillance cameras. Three, I was rushed and distracted, and the bad guys picked up on that.

Statistically, the holidays are even worse for this kind of crime. So as we enter the season, still feeling a little skittish, I thought I’d check with the experts about how to be safe.

“Develop some steps for safety, and stick to them,” says J.D. Sanders, police chief for Memorial Villages. “It takes just a minute to put a seatbelt on, and we got used to that. If you’ll practice some safety things it’ll take a while to get used to it in the beginning, but after a while it’s second nature.”

What are those steps? “No. 1, when shopping alone, pick places at parking lots that are well-lit and not crowded,” Sanders says. Not crowded seems contrary to what a lot of us think. Isn’t there safety in numbers? “We all want to get as close to the entrance of a store as possible. My wife will burn half a tank of gas to save 10 steps. But you’re better off parking farther away in a less crowded area,” says Sanders. “Bad guys can conceal themselves a lot easier when there’s another car next to yours.”

Likewise, he advises to not “park next to big vehicles that would block sight of your car. They hide their victim’s vehicle with their own car so they can do whatever they want, and nobody will see.”

“A whole lot of it is just being aware. Don’t have your mind on Christmas gifts and carpool. Have your keys ready before you leave a store, so you don’t have to fumble for them when you’re at your car. Keep the alarm button in your hand and walk past your car to make sure there’s nobody sitting in the vehicle next to you.”

Other safety experts advise taking a 360-degree survey of what’s going on in front of, behind and on each side of you as you walk to or from the car, walking in the big aisles, rather than between cars.  Valuables like portable GPS devices, cell phones, laptops, iPods and even charging cables should be stashed in a console or glove compartment. (Remember to clean suction marks off the windshield where GPS or radar detectors were attached.) Also, don’t leave packages in sight inside your car as you go from store to store. Make sure to lock them in the trunk or make a trip home to unload. And big purses? “They’re a giant neon sign saying, ‘Come get me.’ Don’t give them that big of a target,” Sanders says.

“If you’re driving a nice vehicle, those things signify you’ve got a little money and most likely jewelry. The bad guys will literally stalk a place for hours and sometimes days looking for just the right victim in a parking lot. You’ve got to be aware of your surroundings.”

Ken Walker, chief of police for West University, echoes Sanders’ advice. “Be aware of everything around you, especially when returning from a grocery store or bank. Check your rear-view mirror, make a few turns, make sure nobody is following you.” If they are, he says, drive to the police station or call them. “Whatever you do,” Sanders says, “don’t pull into your driveway. Then you’re trapped.”

Bellaire police chief Byron Holloway, who visited with The Buzz and other police chiefs at Island Grill, wants residents to remember personal safety as they commence the holiday rush.(Photo: stpimages.com)

Walker and Bellaire police chief Byron Holloway both warn against having packages delivered to your home. “Every year, online shopping increases,” Holloway says. “And we have a real problem with all these packages on people’s porches. We’ll stop [thieves] and they’ll have 10 to 15 packages from all over the city in their car.”

Holloway says it’s difficult to determine the extent of doorstep-package theft because usually the recipient will call the vendor, thinking the package was lost during shipping. Walker’s and Holloway’s recommendation: If you’re not home during the day, and there’s nobody at your house, have packages delivered to an office or to a neighbor who will be home all day.

And after the packages are opened, “break down the boxes and bag ’em,” says Holloway. “Any crook can drive around on recycling day and see everyone in the neighborhood who has just bought a new computer or iPad or TV.”

Holloway also advises residents to counsel their housekeepers and other household employees to call the police about anything suspicious. “Some of their immigration statuses are questionable, and they’re concerned that if they call the police when something goes wrong that they’ll be in trouble. Maybe the employers even tell them not to call the police because they’re worried about getting in trouble themselves.

“We want to be clear that we don’t care about that. We just want to get the call, so that we can do our job and make sure everyone and their property is safe.”

During the holidays, we expect more visitors dropping by. Sanders says, “Be careful about opening a door when you don’t know who’s there. People tend to be less on guard during the holidays, but still be careful about knowing who’s there, and have lots of lights. Bad guys hate locks and security systems, but the things they hate most are lights. They won’t go where they can be easily seen.” In addition to lights, think about posting “Beware of Dog” signs and warnings that alarm systems are in use. And then, use the alarm systems. Make sure, also, that shrubs are manicured; overgrowth is an easy place for thieves to hide.

The real problem, Holloway says, is that, “Our lives are so hectic. We’re all trying to do too much in too little time. There’s a lot of cash in circulation during the holidays. We’re distracted, not thinking about what we need to do to keep ourselves and our property safe. Crooks know this, and it brings them out.”

Holloway, like the other police chiefs, says the best thing to do is to keep your guard up. “Everyone in the holiday mode is happy and feeling goodwill. They’re very trusting and loving, focusing on their faith and traditions. Unfortunately, a lot of people will take advantage of that. Criminals see that and think, ‘How can I turn this to my advantage?’

“When you get into that rush mode, just stop, catch your breath, and say to yourself, ‘Am I doing everything I can to protect myself, my property and my family?’”