WACO, TX — Home and car burglaries have remained consistent throughout the pandemic in Waco. In a span of three days, the Waco Police Department saw 5 apartment complex offices fall victim to burglaries.
“We do feel like it was a targeted incident and we do have our detectives working on these cases,” Cierra Shipley, Public Information Officer for the Waco Police Department.
Targeted or not, Waco police are now asking the community to make sure they are locking up.
“Anytime we see an increase like this we also want to let the public be aware of it but this is also a great reminder to the public as well that this can happen to your home, this could even happen to your car,” Shipley said.
According to an Econofact study, throughout the country, during the pandemic residential burglaries actually fell about 24%, which could have something to do with people staying home. But, now that people are heading back to work and school, that could change.
Despite the pandemic, burglaries in Waco remained steady.
“When we see an increase or an influx of people coming in, we do see an increase in those car burglaries and other burglaries as well,” Shipley said.
With the new constitutional carry law, police are also asking that gun owners keep personal firearms hidden or not in their cars at all.
“Even if you have a license to carry or a permit to carry and now we have permit-less carry, if you have a gun or a weapon with you make sure that is not seen or visible where someone can say ‘oh hey I kind of want that,' and then break into your car,” Shipley said.
And with more people in the community this time of year, police want to remind the public to be aware of their surroundings.
