By Madeline Condor | Staff Writer
As the holiday season approaches, Waco PD public information officer Cierra Shipley said the rate of crimes of opportunity rises. From theft to drunken driving, she said students should be aware of their surroundings.
“It’s not necessarily like a planned out or targeted situation,” Shipley said. “[Thieves] know people are out shopping. If you’re going to be out shopping for the holidays, there’s probably going to be some pretty good stuff in those vehicles, so if [thieves] see a bunch of bags in the back or the front seat, they’re going to want to break into your car and take those. The same thing goes for if you get stuff delivered. Of course, people are getting so many things delivered to their houses for the holidays — gifts and all that stuff. … So we might see an increase in people stealing packages off the front porch.”
Austin junior Allison Vanderslice said a package was stolen from outside her off-campus house.
“My mailbox isn’t directly in front of my house, so I don’t check the mail as often as I’d like to,” Vanderslice said. “I got a notification that a package was delivered, but when I went to pick it up, it wasn’t there. The package was a dress for my semi-formal, so after it was stolen, I had to scramble to get a new one in time.”
To combat this, Shipley said she suggests having packages delivered to a secondary location.
“If you know [of a] better location to deliver packages, whether it be a post office or Amazon lock box or anything like that, that’s going to be a better secure location,” Shipley said. “If it says it’s going [to] be delivered this day … between the timeframe that it gives, if you can, find a way to be home that day. Ask a friend to be around at that time to pick it up for you. Just find different ways so that package isn’t left outside in the open all day long.”
Shipley said there is also often an influx of drunken driving cases, as this stressful time of year coincides with family get-togethers for the holidays. According to the United States Department of Transportation, there were 209 drunken driving-related fatalities during the Christmas and New Year’s period in 2020.
“It’s not worth it to get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking,” Shipley said. “If you have been drinking, call an Uber or a Lyft — any sort of rideshare service — or a friend, a family member. So many crashes happen every year all across the country because of drunken driving, and that does increase during the holidays.”
Shipley said her No. 1 suggestion for students this time of year is to keep their heads on a swivel.
“Constantly be looking up, looking from side to side,” Shipley said. “Just watch things that are going on around you. Something as simple as doing that is really going to deter someone from trying to target you for a crime.”
