Austin police provide safety tips during the holidays

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department said crime tends to rise during the holidays, and they want residents to be aware.

APD said many of the crimes committed during the holidays are crimes of opportunity.

For personal safety, they advised community members to stay alert and park in well lit areas.

"You can always park with your vehicle's driver-side door to the establishment that way, when you’re walking out towards your car, you have visual contact with the door that you’re going to be making entry into your vehicle," Austin police officer Angel Gomez said.

He also said don’t get into a vehicle and drive after drinking.

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For home security, APD suggests locking all the doors and windows, closing the blinds and curtains, and if you’re going to be gone during the holidays, leave a TV or radio on and don’t post on social media about where or how long you’re going to be gone.

"People tend to leave their curtains and their windows accessible, so they can see their beautiful tree, burglars specifically know that Christmas trees have Christmas presents, making your house a possible target," Gomez said.

For theft prevention, police say don’t leave packages on your porch for too long, maybe ask a neighbor to pick them up, and when done with the boxes, break them down and dispose of them, so people don’t know about all the new items in the home.

Gomez suggested security cameras.

"We benefit from them greatly. There are a lot of situations that we come across where there’s a crime that happened at address X and address Y happened to have a camera, motion activated that caught the perpetrator, and we’re able to solve a lot of situations like that," Gomez said.

APD said if you’re a victim, call 311.