guarddog4you

Imagine coming home from the grocery store, pulling into your garage, popping the trunk, grabbing some bags and going inside the house. The trunk was left open and you had forgotten your purse was on the passenger side seat. You grab the rest of the bags, shut the trunk, close the garage door and go inside the house. A couple hours later you realize you need your checkbook. You look for your purse and realize it’s not in the house. You go out to the garage and look into your car, but your purse is not there. You search everywhere but do not find it. That is when you realize someone may have taken it from your car. You call your credit card companies and find out there has been a few hundred dollars of charges made to your accounts. Your next call is to the police. When you arrived home from the grocery store you did not think you would soon be a victim of a random, opportunistic crime; but you were.

Unfortunately, I have seen too many victims throughout my years as a police officer. I would respond to the victims’ location to take the report, and I would hear the same comments each time: “I just turned away for a couple of minutes”, “I never thought this would happen to me” or the ever classic “I live in a nice neighborhood”. It was frustrating as a police officer to know that with a little more awarness they may not have been a victim. They would not have provided the bad guys with the opportunity for exploitation. I don’t want to give the impression that the victim’s are to blame, because they are not. No one deserves to have their lives disrupted, their trust in their fellow man broken, or their privacy violated.

As a police officer, I didn’t feel I had much to offer the victims. I gave them a police report number so they could give that to their insurance companies, told them they would be contacted if any leads develop (which I knew was highly unlikely), and spread dusting powder around in a desperate hope of finding a fingerprint (which I also knew was highly unlikely). That is why I decided to start this blog. To help educate others on the simple things they can do to protect themselves and families from becoming the next victim of a random, opportunistic crime. I hope you find my blog informative and helpfull.