With Christmas presents piling up in shopping carts, in vehicle trunks and atop many a Christmas tree skirt, local residents are urged to be cautious as they finish their holiday shopping and begin to celebrate the season.

In Pell City, efforts like rolling out extra bicycle patrol units and keeping watch over homes during Christmas vacations have led to a fairly uneventful Christmas season, as far as crimes go.

“I’d say it has gone amazing well,” Pell City Police Chief Greg Turley said of the force’s efforts this holiday season. “Typically on the day after Thanksgiving, the first official day of the shopping season, we’ve seen car break-ins and a lot of shoplifting, but this is the first year we’ve not had that.”

In addition to preventing theft, officers have been on the lookout for domestic disputes, distracted or intoxicated driving and other incidents that might ruin the holiday spirit — including the improper use of new “toys” on Christmas Day.

“Christmas Day is usually very quiet, but then we see something like a lot of kids getting scooters, golf carts, bicycles, those kinds of things which can cause complaints,” Turley said. “We also see problems with BB guns or Airsoft guns. Discharging a firearm, including pellet guns or BB guns, inside the city limits is illegal. We just ask everyone to use common sense.”  

Like in Pell City, diligent police patrol work has led to lower crime rates in the city of Leeds this holiday season, ensuring a merry Christmas for many.

“We’ve actually been fortunate in seeing a downturn overall for the year,” said Leeds Police Chief Ted Cook. “We’re still trending the way we have been in mostly a lower pattern than last year … but we have seen some [crime] we could attribute to the Christmas season.”

During the holiday season, Cook said police pay particular attention to residences during the day to foil would-be burglars, but also expend efforts patrolling shopping centers, including the newly-opened Shops of Grand River.  

 “We’ve had some [crime at Grand River] but it’s not an awful lot. Certainly no more than should be expected for a shopping center that size with the sheer volume of people that have been coming on a day-to-day basis,” he explained, noting that there have been instances of shoplifting and counterfeit currency reported, in addition to a few cars being broken into.

Local police forces are working extra hours to ensure safety through the holiday season, but citizens play a vital part in keeping themselves and one another safe, as well.

“Certainly always lock your doors, whether it’s your car or your home, and try not to make yourself an easy target,” Cook said. “If you have to leave something in the car, don’t leave it in plain sight, and if you lock items in the trunk, make sure you do it before you park the car.”

Because of remote trunk release buttons inside the main part of the vehicle, it’s much easier to gain access to the trunk — especially if a would-be criminal knows there’s a purse or other valuable item inside.

“It takes two seconds to break a window, two seconds to grab something, and then they’re gone,” Turley said.

Cook and Turley also cautioned against piling up empty boxes on the street for the garbage man to pick up.

“Essentially, you tend to advertise what you now have inside. Believe it or not, some folks will look at those to determine whether or not to break into the house,” Cook explained.

If there’s an unexplained person around a vehicle or home, people are encouraged to call 911 immediately, and stay on the line to give updated information on where the person is, what they look like and what they’re wearing until officers arrive to investigate.

“If there’s someone out of place, it never hurts to see what someone’s doing,” Cook said.

“There are people from out of town, people who like to ride around and look at Christmas lights, people lost looking for the right house, things like that, so the word is vigilance. There are a lot of innocent things that go on, but there are others profiling who is out of town,” Turley added.

Residents living near churches are also asked to remain vigilant for people arriving at the church during non-church event hours. Communities all over the county have seen a rash of air conditioner, manhole cover and other metal thefts.

“Usually, someone doesn’t belong at a church at night, so make sure to give us a call right away,” he said.