Minden Police Chief Jared McIver is advising residents to keep their valuables secure and ensure doors to homes, vehicles, and sheds are locked.
“We had a rash of car burglaries the other night,” said McIver. “We’d really like to encourage our citizens to, as a routine, lock your doors every night in your vehicles, and make sure there’s nothing visible if someone shines a flashlight in there. Any equipment, bicycles, and anything that’s in your yard, put them up every night.”
McIver emphasized the importance of assuming that each night could be the night someone attempts to steal something. He noted that securing valuables can significantly reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim of opportunistic crimes.
“They’re pulling on door latches. If it opens, they’re looking to find something. They’re looking for guns, they’re looking for money or jewelry, something fast that they can get rid of and make money on,” McIver explained. “If we could prevent those opportunities, it would help.”
Although the recent crimes occurred mostly in one area of the city, McIver warned that such incidents can happen anywhere. “It takes seconds to open a latch and grab something and move on. It takes seconds to walk up to an open garage door and walk out. It takes seconds to walk up into a yard, take a bicycle, and leave.”
The chief urged residents to develop a routine of locking up every day. “Most of these are opportunists,” he said. “We may get people from Texas, Shreveport, Monroe, wherever, who ride through Minden throughout the day marking addresses where they see easy things to run up and grab at night. If they see there’s not much opportunity here — everything’s put up, everything’s locked up — they’re going to go to the next town.”
McIver concluded with a reminder: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”