Suspicious Activity

When and why you should call your police department.

Help the Police Help You

No police department can function effectively without the assistance of responsible citizens. The police are depending on you to call whenever you observe suspicious persons or actions.

Some people fail to call the police simply because they are not aware of what seemingly innocent activities might be suspicious. Others may notice suspicious activity and be hesitant to call for fear of seeming a “nosey neighbor” or a “crank”. Still others may take it for granted that
someone else has already called.

Call the police immediately about all suspicious activity and do it yourself ... anonymously if you wish. Don’t worry about being embarrassed if your suspicions prove unfounded. Think instead about what might happen if you don’t!

The Police Will Need This Information

• What happened?
  
• When?
  
• Where?
  
• Is anyone injured?
  
• Vehicle license number
  
• Vehicle description
  
• Direction of flight
  
• Description of persons (including clothing)
  

When describing suspects, notice age, race, sex, height and weight. Compare your weight and height with theirs. Pick out some unique characteristics which will help you identify the suspect in the future.

What is Suspicious?

Anything that seems even slightly “out of place” for the area or time of day in which it occurs is suspicious. Obvious things to watch for include:

• A stranger entering your neighbor’s house when it is unoccupied.
  
• A scream heard anywhere.
  
• Offers of merchandise at ridiculously low prices can mean stolen property.
  
• Anyone removing accessories, license plates or gasoline from a car.
  
• Anyone peering into parked cars.
  
• Persons entering or leaving a business after hours.
  
• The sound of breaking glass or other loud explosive noises.
  
• Persons loitering around schools, parks, secluded areas or in the neighborhood.
  
• Persons around the neighborhood who do not live there.
  

Some Not So Obvious Things To Watch For:

Not every stranger who comes into your neighborhood is a criminal. There are many legitimate door-to-door salesmen, repairmen and servicemen moving around your neighborhood all the time. But criminals do take advantage of this by assuming the identity of legitimate business
representatives. After all, if a criminal looked like a criminal, no one would have any trouble spotting him! Here are some situations involving people you might see and what their actions might mean.

• Someone is going door to door in your neighborhood. Watch for a while. If, after a few houses are visited, one or more of the persons tries a door to see if it is locked or goes into a back or side yard, it could be a burglar. Such action is even more suspicious if one person remains in the front when this occurs, or if there is a car following a few houses
  away.
  
• Someone waiting in front of a house or business appears suspicious if the owners are absent or the business is closed. This might be a lookout for a burglary in progress.
  
• Anyone forcing entrance to or tampering with a residence, business or vehicle is suspicious anytime, anywhere.
  
• A person running, especially if carrying something of value, could be leaving the scene of a crime.
  
• Carrying property could be suspicious too, if it’s at an unusual hour or in an unusual place, and if the property is not wrapped as if it were just purchased.
  
• A person exhibiting unusual mental or physical symptoms may be injured, under the influence of drugs or otherwise needing medical or psychiatric assistance. Heavy human traffic to and from a residence is not suspicious unless it occurs on a daily or a regular basis, especially during late or unusual hours.
  

Watch for these circumstances involving vehicles

• Any vehicles moving slowly and without lights, or following a course that appears aimless or repetitive is suspicious in any location. Occupants may be “casing” for places to rob or
  burglarize, or could be drug pushers or sex offenders.
  
• Parked, occupied vehicles containing one or more persons are especially significant if observed at an unusual hour. They could be lookouts for a crime in progress.
  
• Vehicles being loaded with valuables are suspicious if parked in front of closed businesses or untended residences, even if the vehicle is a legitimate looking commercial unit.
  

To move more freely without suspicion, more and more professional thieves are“customizing” their vehicles with special signs.

• “Business transactions” conducted from a vehicle, especially around schools or parks and if juveniles are involved, may mean drug sales.
  
• Persons being forced into vehicles, especially if juveniles or females, may mean kidnapping.
  
• The abandoned vehicle parked on your block may be a stolen car.
  

Other Situations You Should Report

• Continuous “repair” operations at a nonbusiness location may mean stolen property being stripped, repainted or otherwise altered.
  
• Open or broken doors or windows at a closed business or residence whose owners are absent may mean a burglary in progress or already completed.
  
• Unusual noises such as gunshots, screaming, sounds of combat, abnormally barking dogs ... anything suggestive of foul play, danger or illegal activity ... should be reported.
  

While some, if not all, of the suspicious situations described could have innocent explanations, your police department would rather investigate crime-prone situations than be called when it is too late. YOUR CALL MAY SAVE A LIFE, PREVENT AN INJURY OR STOP A CRIMINAL ACT!

Assist Your Police!

As you read this pamphlet a police officer is responding to a call to investigate an incident. Many crimes occur literally“under the noses” of citizens who just didn’t notice anything suspicious.

The direct reduction of crime in our community is partly your responsibility! Help reduce the possibility of your becoming a crime statistic!

Opportunities to commit crime must be reduced. Your police department needs your eyes and ears to help decrease these opportunities.

Become aware. Become suspicious of possible criminal activity in your neighborhood.

Call us immediately when anything suspicious occurs!