By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A bit of preparation, a step or two of precaution goes a long way to keeping Christmas presents out of the hands of thieves.
Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett says safety tips this time of year mostly boil down to paying attention and common sense, because many thefts are thefts of convenience.
“Guard your packages, make sure that those are out of sight,” Puett says. “Watch your wallets, your purses.”
Puett says thieves are looking for distracted shoppers who might misplace their purse or wallet or forget their credit card on the counter.
He also advises to be careful with how you discard packaging after Christmas.
“Make sure that those boxes and things are torn down and you don’t put a whole bunch of stuff out on the street for the trash companies to pick-up, because all that does is advertise to everybody around that, hey, they just got a new TV, they got a computer, they got this, they got that,” Puett says.
Puett says avoiding distractions and using common sense go a long way to staying safe during the Christmas season.