Community News

Crime Watch

One of the primary factors in effective crime prevention is identifying and eliminating the opportunity to commit crimes. Recently, Papillion Police officers patrolling our neighborhoods at night have noticed some rather blatant opportunities and are asking for citizen partnership in eliminating them.

Officers report a regular occurrence of open garage doors in the residential neighborhoods during the overnight hours. In many cases, there are expensive items such as lawn mowers, golf clubs, bicycles and power tools plainly visible from the street. In rare instances, officers have even seen purses and car keys sitting on top of vehicles inside the garage. As time permits, officers attempt to contact residents and inform them of the unsafe situation. If no contact is made, officers can leave a small card reminding the homeowner of the possible consequences of leaving doors and windows open and/or unlocked. Although not a widespread problem in our city, burglary and theft are usually "crimes of opportunity" and can yield devastating results.

Officers note that malfunctioning garage door openers may account for a small percentage of this problem, however, the majority of the cases are the result of carelessness and complacency. Papillion Police officers ask that citizens make an extra effort to ensure garage doors are closed and secured. This small step could serve to save your property, your peace of mind, and possibly even your heating and cooling costs!