The below blog is from Central Neighborhood Resource Officer (NRO) Ken Brown.
Ken ably wears many hats in the Central District and is currently our lead liaison at the Beacon and doing lead work in the currently vacant Langdon St Neighborhood Officer position.
New beginnings, spring is coming!
As we head into the end of March, spring is right around the corner, and spring break for UW-Madison and MMSD is fast approaching. Many students and families will head to warmer climates with an abundance of sunshine to avoid the late March snowfall that inevitably happens in Wisconsin. Windows and doors will soon open to allow the cool spring breezes into houses and apartments, and that can lead to opportunities for burglars to enter and plunder. The ten most common items taken during burglaries in the Central District are:
Laptop Computer
I-Pods
Video game consoles
DVD's
Video Games
Cell Phones
Digital Cameras
Wallets or purses
Loose Change
Backpacks
One thing that we ask is that you write down serial numbers for some of these items, as that information is crucial in locating items that are pawned. A few tips in preventing burglaries are, lock your windows and doors, report suspicious activity in your neighborhood, conceal your valuables when not home, consider renters insurance, and keep an external hard drive with important information/documents. If you are leaving for an extended period consider the following:
Tell your neighbors
Stop your mail, magazine or newspaper subscriptions
Leave an inside light on
Let a friend house-sit
Notify your landlord
Fill out a vacation watch request on MPD Website: https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/forms/vacationWatch.cfm
Enjoy the spring!