San Mateo Police Remind Residents to Lock Cars

The San Mateo Police Department is reminding residents to lock their cars as officers have seen a trend of vehicle burglaries in the city recently.

Over the past weekend, officers have been notified of four window-smash auto burglaries in the downtown San Mateo area, Sgt. Dave Norris said.

Window-smash burglaries likely occur due to visible valuable property within a locked vehicle that enticed a criminal to break the window to steal it, Norris said.

San Mateo police offer the following advice:

1) LOCK YOUR CAR! – Unlocked vehicles are the #1 target of these types of bandits…
2) KEEP VALUABLES OUT OF YOUR CAR OR STOW THEM OUT OF SIGHT! – Window-smashes are almost always the result of a locked car and a valued item in plain sight …

Tips while shopping:

1) Program SMPD’s Dispatch line into your mobile phone: 650-522-7700
2) Keep a mobile phone handy, but out of sight – thieves also like to target those “distracted shoppers” who are not paying attention and are walking/shopping while using their mobile devices – these bandits are known to snatch the devices right out of the hands of the distracted victims!

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS:

Anyone with information on current investigations or ongoing crime trends is encouraged to contact SMPD Investigations:

SMPD Investigations Bureau: 522-7650

SMPD Secret Witness hotline: 522-7676

Anonymous Text to SMPD: 262-3473

• If you see a crime in progress or anything that appears to be suspicious in your neighborhood, please do not hesitate to contact the San Mateo Police Department:

• Emergencies and crimes in progress: 911

• Non-urgent matters or direct dial SMPD from mobile phone: 650-522-7700