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Community Corner

Personal Safety Tactics: Stay Safe While Christmas Shopping

Snellville Police offer tips on staying safe during the holidays.

The Scenario

You’re shopping for that special present that’s going to make this a very memorable Christmas. It’s too big to carry around while you shop for other gifts, so you take it to the car and put it in the trunk, where it will be out of sight and secure. After you finish shopping, you return to your car with a few more gifts—only to find that the trunk has been forced open and the special present is gone.

The Personal Safety Tactic

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According to Sergeant Charles Coates of the Snellville Police Department, “Thieves routinely hang around shopping malls and specialty stores looking for opportunities, and the Christmas shopping season is a prime time for them. Whether you’re visiting different stores in the same mall, or driving from one store to another, a thief may have his eye on you, and the gifts you’ve purchased.”

So to make sure your Christmas gifts are received by the people for whom you purchased them, try to make your expensive and large item purchases the last ones of your shopping trip. If that’s impractical, try to make arrangements to pick up your purchase at a later date, or find another alternative to leaving it your car in a mall parking lot. And always watch as you go from one store to another to make sure you aren’t being followed.

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