Gifts under a tree or boxes left on the front porch are a big temptation, not to mention there have been some bigger ticket items such as vehicles stolen in our county recently, too.
The perps often will scout out the area, knocking on doors with innocent questions in the event you're home... if not, they may well invite themselves in for a looksee.
To the point, here's some good advice from Presiding Commissioner and police officer Jim Wheatley:
This is the time of the year when individuals will be checking to see if people are home or not.
If a person or couple come to your house asking for any type of help, just tell them you will call the local Police or Sheriff's Office to get them help.
When you contact the dispatcher, give them as much information as you can such as vehicle type, color, license and a good physical description of the person(s).
The more information you can provide the dispatcher, the better the chance the people will be located and determine if they need help or are they trying to find an easy home to invade.
And always, make sure you lock everything up and possibly form an alliance with neighbors to help keep watch.
