MEDIA RELEASE / COMMUNITY ALERT
For Immediate Release No. 20190605-032
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
COMMUNITY ALERT – Stay Vigilant and Protect Your Homes
San Mateo Police are investigating a rash of burglaries involving homes under construction.
San Mateo, CA – In the early morning hours, thieves targeted the west side of San Mateo to burglarize vacant residential homes currently under construction. Mirroring a statewide trend of property crimes, San Mateo has also seen an uptick in these types of crimes recently. The San Mateo Police Department is actively working this investigation and seeking to capture the suspects. Anyone with surveillance or any information is encouraged to call Sgt. Lee Violett with San Mateo Police Department’s Investigations Bureau at (650) 522-7662.
Anonymous tips can be submitted to
http://tinyurl.com/SMPDTips or by calling (650) 522-7676.
SMPD has an open investigation of multiple residential burglaries of vacant homes under construction in the general area west of S El Camino Real and south of Highway 92. We are urging our community to take precautions to protect your neighborhood as we actively investigate these crimes to identify and arrest those responsible. SMPD is taking a proactive approach and stepping up high visible patrol.
As SMPD tackles these investigations, we ask our community to safeguard your properties with these tips:
Talk with your neighbors – Share your daily construction schedule and ask them to report any after-hours suspicious activity to SMPD.
Lock all doors and windows – Remind your construction crew to do so at the end of every day.
Remove all tools and expensive equipment – This time-consuming task is worth the effort.
Light it up – Ensure bright lights are on around your entire home.
Invest in Surveillance – We’re encouraging our community to utilize security cameras. They are especially helpful in identifying suspicious activity in neighborhoods when cameras are street facing. Our officers regularly canvass for surveillance and you can help us by notifying SMPD cameras are in your neighborhood at
www.cityofsanmateo.org/NEST.
What to do if your home is burglarized?
Call SMPD immediately to report the crime and don’t touch anything. Reporting crime will help SMPD to identify crime trends and allow us to take more of a specified approach in combating these crimes. Don’t adjust, touch, or enter the home if possible to help us preserve all evidence.
See Something, Say Something – YOU are our extra eyes and ears!
Residential burglaries occur within a matter of minutes, therefore if you see a suspicious vehicle or person call SMPD immediately – trust your instincts. Please contact your area lieutenant if you’d like to invite them to your next neighborhood watch meeting.
https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/675.
MEDIA CONTACT
Michael Haobsh
Public Information Officer
Community & Media Relations
Desk: (650) 522-7626
Email:
[email protected]
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