Seneca Whetstone HOA

What is Suspicious Activity? Guidelines to making the call.

What is Suspicious Activity? Anything that feels uncomfortable or looks out of place.
Report the Following:
• Suspicious activities, people watching vehicles
• Illegal activities
• Unusual events or incidents
• Dangerous situations

Call 911 if you have a 1) life threatening emergency, 2) you are involved or witnessed a crime in progress, 3) you are involved or witnessed a car accident where someone has been injured, or 3) domestic violence.

Call the non-emergency police number 301-279-8000 for any other concerns.

What to observe when reporting a crime:
Physical setting: specific location (street, cross street, time of day, day of week)
People: what they look like (gender, race, age (range), height (peoples heads are ~6 inches long), weight, what they were wearing (color shirt, pants, shoes), facial hair, eye color, hair color), how they are acting, how many people are involved

Additional details to notice and report include:
Vehicle - make, model, damage, bumper stickers, signs or lettering, phone numbers, company logos
Direction of travel
Witnesses - were there any other people that saw what happened
Outcome of incident - individuals injured or killed, damage caused

DO NOT GIVE DETAILS IF YOU ARE NOT SURE - BETTER TO NOT SAY THAN TO GUESS!!!! (remember the white box truck when they were looking for the sniper??)

If you see a work truck or unusual car in your neighborhood write down date, time, tag#, vehicle type - write down and keep - and then throw away if not needed. Most thieves do not park right in front of where they are robbing. You might find out later that something happened in your neighborhood and then you can report the vehicle that you saw that was out of place.

Try to be more observant of your surroundings at all times. Take a pen with you if you are going out to walk the dog, take a run, etc. so that you can write down License Tag numbers. This is a great piece of information to give to police. If you don't have a pen try to remember the number at a whole number in the hundreds like five hundred and thirty five - instead of trying to remember five - three - five. Try to make words that start with the letters in the Tag something you will remember instead of GCX you can try Gary, Charlie, Xavier or whatever words are easy for you to remember that have the same first letter.

#1 Crime in Montgomery County is theft from vehicles. Most common place for this to occur is in front of your home. Second most common is a parking garage. MAKE SURE YOU LOCK YOUR CAR DOORS. Thieves will walk through a neighborhood checking the handles on all the cars parked outside looking for an easy target (unlocked vehicle).

1 out of 6 homes will be burglarized this year with an average value lost of $1,280.
85% of the time the items stolen are NOT recovered.
76% of the burglaries in Montgomery County happen between 9am- 1:30pm.
Most burglars will work no longer than 60 seconds to break into your home - make it hard for them to enter and they will move to the next house.

Specific Tips to Keep You Safe:

DO NOT KEEP YOUR ORIGINAL CAR REGISTRATION in your glove compartment - put a copy in there. If they have the original they can go to the DMV with a fake license and change the ownership of the car.

If you have a GPS - wipe the suction cup mark from the window - this is an advertisement that you have a GPS somewhere in your car to steal. She suggested changing the home address to closest store or mall so they don't know where you live.

IF THEY CAN SEE IT THEY CAN STEAL IT - goes for everything in your vehicles and in your home - do not put your keys, wallet, purse in plain site in your car or by the the front door of your home.

DO NOT put a hide-a-key under the doormat, flower pot, etc. Better to give to a neighbor.

MAKE SURE YOU LOCK the door inside your garage that leads into your house.

DO NOT GET IN A ROAD RAGE altercation. You never know if the other person has a weapon it their car. GET OVER IT! IT IS NOT WORTH GETTING SHOT, STABBED, etc.

MAKE SURE YOUR HOUSE NUMBERS CAN BE EASILY SEEN FROM THE STREET - even at night. Good idea to keep lights on outside at night.

USE alarm system stickers, signs, beware of dog sign (big water bowl on the back deck)  - thief doesn't know whether or not you really have these.

If you do have an alarm system make sure you use it ALL the time - when you are away from the house and at night. It is good to have a local company monitoring it.

Use double cylinder lock on your house. Replace the screw in your strike plate from 0.5 inch to 1 inch. Additional locks on sliding and French doors. Make sure your house is well lighted. You increase visibility and eliminate hiding places by keeping shrubs and trees cut back. Thorny bushes are good.

DO NOT put on your answering machine or your face book page when you are going on vacation. Your answering machine message should simply say "We can't take your call right now - please leave a message" don't tell them that you are not in the house or that you are away in Florida for 2 weeks!

If you have a keypad garage opener - do not make the code your address or the last 4 digits of your phone number!

MAKE A LIST AND TAKE PHOTOS of your property in case it is stolen. Print list and pictures out and store in a photo album in case the thief also steals the computer that this information is on.

MAKE sure you know the serial number of your computer. Mark your property with your drivers license number - never your social security number

PO3 Scott Zimmerman

Montgomery County Police Department

6th District Community Service Officer

Office:(240) 773-5757

Fax: (240) 773-5710

scott.zimmerman@montgomerycountymd.gov