Police Warn Shoppers About “Smash & Grab” Thieves

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF-TV) – It’s not exactly an outbreak but Chattanooga police report some "smash and grab" incidents around shopping areas.
Police Chief Fred Fletcher says a lot of the blame may fall on you if you’re not careful.
But there’s also some good news about the local crime rate.

How often have you seen this happen at the mall? How often was it you who did it?
It’s a common mistake and this time of year, chances are, the bad guys are watching.

CHIEF FRED FLETCHER, CHATTANOOGA POLICE DEPARTMENT "Take, Hide, and lock. If you can taken your belongings with you, please do. Always lock your car…and anything you have to leave in your car, please hide it somewhere so somebody can’t see it."

It’s called "Smash and grab", but you don’t have to be the next victim.

CHIEF FRED FLETCHER, CHATTANOOGA POLICE DEPARTMENT "Well,we tend to have spikes during the Christmas season and our officers have been working very hard to both educate our residents,community members about how to be safe during this season…but we’re also doing enhanced patrols and doing what we can to intervene and prevent them.."

Your car window may look like something from a junk yard when you get back to the parking lot. Or you get a note from the police.

CHIEF FLETCHER "We shoot 400 different pamphlets to let residents know that they have done some things that made them more susceptible to crime ..so we’re trying to prevent every crime possible."

But, all is not lost—a check of police crime records shows that, despite what we all may have thought. Things are looking up.

CHIEF FRED FLETCHER "If crime happens to you or your loved ones…its too many crimes. And any crime is too much crime to me and the people who serve this community,but .The numbers show that things l;ike property crimes and robberies are actually down."

That’s good news as the year comes to an end.
But the message remains—-don’t let your guard down, and play it smart.
Police also point out that the "Smash and Grabbers" can sometimes break the window, get what they want and be gone in less than a minute.
More reason to stay alert and not leave anything in your car.