The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office has once again seen a rise in thefts from motor vehicles throughout St. Mary’s County. In many of these thefts the vehicle was left unlocked and the valuables were in plain view. Examples of items taken during these thefts include:
- Purses and Wallets
- US Currency
- Cellular Telephones
- GPS and other navigation systems
- Electronic devices such as IPODS and MP3 players
Sheriff Timothy Cameron and the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind citizens to please take the following precautions in securing vehicles:
- Lock your vehicle
- Make sure windows are completely up and secured
- Lock passenger compartments inside of your vehicle such as the glove box and center console
- Never leave valuable items in plain view. Remove the items from the vehicle or secure them in the trunk
- Park in well-lit areas
The Sheriff’s Office is asking citizens to be aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious activity such as unfamiliar persons and/or vehicles in the area. Carefully observe the suspicious person’s physical features including the individual’s sex, race, approximate age, height, weight, build and clothing. Writing down the license plate number of suspicious vehicles and reporting it to the Sheriff’s Office is extremely helpful.
A deputy will respond and complete a Field Information Report on calls for suspicious persons and/or activity. Those reports are then recorded and each suspicious incident is compared at the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office weekly CompStat meeting. Often the same individual is involved in committing multiple crimes of this type.
Being proactive and reporting suspicious persons and/or incidents is extremely helpful in identifying criminal activity and solving c
