From Capt. Jim Coker, Hoover PD:
 
Please remind everyone that with vacation season here we would suggest the following:  
 
You can notify Hoover PD when you are out of town.  This is called a “Patrol Request”.  Officers will check your residence.  We will need to know information like what vehicles are left in your driveway, who if anyone has access to your residence, etc.    
 
Let trusted neighbors know when you are out of town.   Neighbors are one of the best defenses against criminal activity*.  
 
Alarm systems are great; don’t forget to set them (it does happen on occasion).  
 
Don’t post anything on social media, such as Facebook, telling people when you will be absent**.
 
I hope everyone has a safe Holiday weekend, and please remember that “Take Back Our Highways” is underway by the State Troopers.
 
 
* - Really a good piece of advice.  Several months ago our neighbor went on vacation.  The day before they left, he brought us a sheet of how to reach them in case of emergency, who will be there in their absence (names, vehicle types, times, etc.) and numbers of people to call if we can't reach them.  It takes just a few minutes to get a sheet like this together.
 
** - Social networking sites like Facebook are like going on the balcony of a building, and yelling at the entire town what you're about to do.  You never know who is reading your wall.  A couple of years ago we had the "Facebook Burglars" in Hoover.  These people would read their friends' (or friends of friends, depending on your privacy settings) walls to see who would be out of town on vacation and when.  They would then go to that house and break into it.  Refrain from posting things you don't want the "bad guys" to see and tell your kids to do the same.  Thanks to Facebood and MySpace, nothing is private anymore.
 
Admin