Commerce thefts decline after arrest

A lull in a three-month spike in thefts and burglaries in Commerce may provide an opportune time for residents to re-evaluate their security practices, both at home and around town.

According to Community Resource and Warrant Officer Alex Suarez of the Commerce Police Department, the department began responding to increased number of thefts and burglaries in July, which have only recently tapered off.

"We started seeing a trend which lasted from July all the way up to a couple of weeks ago when we sent out the press release," Suarez said. "We had a lot of vehicle burglaries and some home burglaries also."

According to Suarez, a suspect was taken into custody on two theft charges about two weeks ago. Since then, there has been a decrease in reports of thefts and burglaries.

"We're not saying he's the one that did them, but we just saw an immediate decrease of burglaries," Suarez said. "We were getting upwards of two to three calls a day on car burglaries and some home burglaries, and all of the sudden they just stopped."

Furthermore, an Oct. 8 e-mail sent out via Leo Mail list serve cautioned students about thefts and burglaries on campus and read in part: "In the last three months, the Commerce Police Department has responded to a large amount of thefts, burglaries and burglaries of motor vehicles. Most of the burglaries of motor vehicles have been committed on vehicles that have been left unlocked. Recently, the University Police Department began taking reports of similar crimes that are now occurring on our campus."

Crime Information Officer Lt. Jason Bone of the University Police Department has advice for students to protect themselves from becoming victims.

"It is very important to not leave valuables in cars, report suspicious people immediately and lock your vehicle," he said.

Suarez emphasized that Commerce residents should not ever let their guard down when it comes to precautionary security measures.

"One of the main things that we want to tell people is lock their car doors and don't leave anything out in their car that is of any value," he said. "It takes less than five seconds for someone to take a rock and throw it through your window, reach in, grab an item and take off. Any boxes or anything that looks like it might be of any value, they're going to catch the burglar's eye."

Suarez said most of the recent vehicle burglaries involved unlocked vehicles with valuables left in "plain sight."

"If you see anybody just going through the neighborhood grabbing (car door) handles, call the police department," he said. "Let us figure out if he's supposed to be there or not."

According to Suarez, the Commerce Police Department offers a free security survey to Commerce homeowners.

"It's a survey where we go to their house and look at all the weaknesses and all the strengths of the house's security system," he said. "In other words, from door locks, to windows, to alarm systems, even as far as seeing what kind of bushes and tress are up against their house. We look at those kinds of things to help them be less of a target."

Suarez said the surveys generally take about one hour, depending on the size of the house.

"It doesn't take long," he said. "Then what I do is take the information and put it together in a format that can give them the pros and cons of what they have."

Suarez said the security survey is a good idea for any homeowner or renter, including A&M-Commerce students who live off campus.

"It's an eye-opening thing," Suarez said. "I'm not trying to make them afraid of what could happen. It's more of an educational thing where they can learn how to help themselves."

Although Suarez acknowledged that while "cost prohibitive" may prevent some homeowners from installing alarms systems, he said there are still economical measures that can make a considerable difference, such as recording serial numbers, and make and model information for household or electronic items that are often stolen.

"It's as simple as going around with a digital camera and taking a picture," he said. "A picture will tell you a lot about an item. Keep the pictures on a memory stick or a CD. I keep harping on that because we have a national database. If we have a serial number or model number, we can put it in our computer and if someone in another state gets caught with it, they can trace it back to here. It's a way for us to give it back to you."

Suarez said bicycles were among frequently stolen items in the latest crime spree and encourages bicycle, and even lawnmower owners, to use locks at all times.

"Use a simple lock, key and chain," he said. "Chain it up to whatever you want to. It takes half a second for you to unlock that bicycle; it also takes that much time for someone to get on it and take off. If there's a lock, door or gate, they're less likely to bother with it."

Anyone interested in scheduling a security survey may contact the Commerce Police Department at 903-886-1139.