Campaign targets minor crimes

Auto burglary and shoplifting are increasing, so the Sheriff's Office is launching a crime prevention program aimed at raising people's awareness.

In the morning at a convenience store, a guy will park his vehicle and run in, leaving the engine running and the doors open.

Sometimes when Sheriff Jeff Dawsy sees this happen, he'll take the keys out of the car, wait until the guy comes out and warn him of the potential consequences.

"It's a safe community. I don't have to worry about that," Dawsy recounted one man saying.

But the sheriff says residents do have to worry, and leaving cars unattended or unlocked happens too often.

Of all car burglaries, between 75 percent and 80 percent of the vehicles were unlocked, Dawsy reported Thursday morning. And from January to June, the Sheriff's Office handled 74 more cases of car burglaries than it did during the same period last year.

Shoplifting was another increasing problem in the first half of this year, sheriff's officials said, with the case load up by 46 compared with the same period last year. To a lesser degree, auto thefts also are on the rise.

To tackle these three problems, which officials described as minor crimes committed mostly by juveniles, the Sheriff's Office launched a crime prevention campaign Thursday and asked residents to help.

"The public are the police and the police are the public," said community affairs Sgt. Christopher Evan.

The increases could be a continuing trend or the numbers could stop growing, said information services director Bill Reach. But whether short- or long-term problems, sheriff's officials want to jump on them now.

"I think we can turn this around very quickly," Dawsy said.

Take a moment to lock your car doors and keep valuables - purses, wallets, computers, cell phones and so on - out of sight, he advised. By locking up, the sheriff said, car burglaries probably could be reduced by half.

"I talk about locking cars all the time," Dawsy said. "It's our nemesis."

As for shoplifting, parents should hold their children accountable, monitor their activity and remember that stores are not babysitters, officials suggested.

During the campaign, the Sheriff's Office intends to raise awareness with public service announcements on television and radio, posters in stores reminding people to lock their cars and by working with officials to prevent crime, and putting three or four cars driven by sheriff's volunteers in trouble spots.

Educating students in the schools, distributing handouts and monthly e-mail newsletters are also part of the plan.

Citrus is still a safe county, the sheriff said, but it's growing and there are bad people coming into the community preying on residents' sense of security.

- Suzannah Gonzales can be reached at 860-7312 or sgonzales@sptimes.com

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