Jan. 16, 2009 — The Douglas County Sheriff today asked citizens to take crime prevention steps in and around their home to help alleviate the amount of criminal trespasses and garage burglaries that have occurred in the last few months.

Since early November, deputies have received nearly 200 reports of criminal trespasses to vehicles from all over the county, including the City of Castle Pines North. Many vehicles have been left unlocked, and the criminals are taking whatever they see inside, including garage door openers. This leads to the criminals opening the garage door, entering the garage and taking whatever they can from inside.

While a majority of these crimes have been solved and those responsible have been arrested, detectives offer a few prevention tips:

• Lock all cars, whether in your garage, on your driveway, or on the street.
• Take all valuables out of your car. Even if the doors are locked, if the criminal can see something they want, they will break the windows to get to it.
• If you must leave your car on the driveway or street, always take the garage door opener out.
• Always leave your garage door closed, even if you are home. Criminals have no problem going into your open garage, even if they know you are home.
• Make sure that the door between your garage and home is always locked.
• If you are the witness to one of these crimes, call 9-1-1. Trust your instincts. Take charge of your neighborhood, report it right away. Do not get physically involved with the situation. The sooner you call police, the quicker they can get there.

The Douglas County Sheriff provides public safety services to the City of Castle Pines North. For more crime prevention tips, visit www.dcsheriff.net.

Reminder: If you'd like to help serve the cause of safety in our community, consider joining the Castle Pines North Safety Task Force. The Safety Task Force consists of citizen volunteers who advise on and research safety-related issues – and they are looking for more volunteers to help. Among the Task Force goals for 2009 are helping to work on local plans for Neighborhood Watch. Citizens who are interested in joining the Task Force or in learning more can contact Chair .