The Zanesville Police Department Reminds the Community to Stay Alert While Shopping This Holiday Season

MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio- The holiday season generally means a lot of shopping and getting those Christmas gifts for your loved ones. 

However, during this time, the Zanesville Police Department (ZPD) is reminding people to stay safe while placing shopping items in your car and to always watch your surroundings to avoid any form of robbery.

“When you’re driving and putting packages in your car try to put them somewhere in your car where everybody doesn’t see them. A lot of people, a lot of women like to put their purse on the floor board and maybe just take their change purse or cash with them, but what happens is, people see the purse and they think cash or valuables that are inside and they don’t realize that the person has taken their valuables with them, and they end up breaking the car window and taking the purse,” stated Chief Tony Coury at ZPD.

Remember to always stay vigilant at all times, partner up while traveling and try to put your items in the trunk before getting to the store location parking lot, say Chief Coury.

Some people believe in ordering gifts online instead of going out to shop, but that can also lead to your things getting stolen from the home.

“You need to ask if you can get it delivered to a neighbor that is home or maybe have it dropped off at your back door, your place of work if you can. Today people are riding just looking for packages sitting at the front door,” Coury said. If you have a ring doorbell or something it’s nice to have, but if you can get your packages delivered at a time or place where there’s people around, it’s better than leaving them on your front porch all day long when nobody is home.”

Chief Coury stated that if any resident will be out of town and feel that their home is in danger or just want a general home check, to please call into the Police Department, and they will do a full home check.