The season of giving may be fully upon us, but that means several of those on Santa’s naughty list are ready to take advantage of other’s generosity, which is why a couple law enforcement experts are offering tips on how to keep the “grinches” of North Alabama from stealing Christmas this year.

Cullman City Police Chief David Nassetta said robberies — taking things directly from an individual — are fairly rare for Cullman, even during the holiday season. He said the types of crimes more likely to spike this time of year are ones of opportunity. 

“We are spoiled living in Cullman, however, so are the thieves because people make it so easy for them. They appreciate that you refuse to believe anyone would take your things while they are helping themselves to the stuff you just purchased,” Nassetta said. 

Chief Anthony Pressnell with Athens Police Department agreed. He said, just within the last week his department has received several reports of “porch piracy” as people have begun to receive gifts they have purchased online. 

“I know people work and they can’t be at home all of the time when packages are delivered, but if they have a neighbor they trust or even a family member that could take possession of a package until they get home, that would be great,” Pressnell said. 

He also recommends downloading an app to track deliveries and is able to send alert notifications once a package has been delivered. 

Thieves are also likely to look beyond your front porch for valuables according to both police chiefs. The two agree that keeping gifts where they aren’t able to be seen from outside your home and keeping vehicle locked at all times, even in your own driveway, goes a long way to lower your risk of becoming a victim of theft.

“We also have a few vehicle break-ins where, basically, they are just going into people’s yards and checking door handles to remove any valuables such as phones, money, firearms, stuff like that. It seems like if we get five of them in a night, four of them will have a gun stolen,” Pressnell said. 

“I get that people are proud to say they live in a town where they have never felt the need to lock their cars or homes at night. But, that wasn’t a good ides 50 years ago and it’s still not a good idea now. If something is important to you, lock it up,” Nassetta said. 

Nassetta also said a number of dangerous situations can arise while visiting larger, more metropolitan shopping destinations. He said it can be impossible to predict the exact circumstances an individual might find themselves in, but two tips which typically always ring true is to travel in numbers and be mentally prepared for anything. 

“It is difficult to give advice to fit every situation, but without going too far off the subject, I will say that everyone needs to go over these kinds of situations in their head. What I mean by that, is you need to look at incidents that happen and think about how you would react if you were in the same situation. Think of this kind of mental preparation as developing a combat mindset. In this day and age, it doesn’t matter what you do for a living or how you spend your time, everyone needs to develop a combat mindset. This isn’t paranoia, it is just deciding that you are going to survive anything that happens and preparing yourself for it before it does.”