Law enforcers give a wake-up call about crime

WEST JORDAN — Many of Salt Lake County's top law enforcers held a press conference Thursday warning residents not to become victims of crimes of opportunity this summer.

"We can only do so much in enforcement," said South Salt Lake Police Chief Beau Babka. "Education goes a long way . . . we hope our citizens will assume more responsibilities for their actions, including businesses."

Police chiefs from nearly every city in Salt Lake County, the Salt Lake County sheriff and the head of UTA security all gathered for a rare call to action on Thursday encouraging residents to take more precautions with their homes, their cars, their businesses and their mail.

"This is a reminder, a wake-up call," Sheriff Aaron Kennard said. "It's going to be a long, hot summer."

It becomes easy, for example, for homeowners to forget shutting their garage doors at night or to leave things out in the yard, Babka said.

Officers throughout the valley will start looking for open garages at night and knocking on residents' doors at all hours as a safety precaution if they see an open door. They will also start issuing citations for vehicles they find left running and unattended. It's part of what they're calling their proactive patrol program.

"Sometimes citizens are their own worst enemy," said South Jordan Police Chief Dan Pearson.

But police say they can't be everywhere at once. That's why they hope the public will remember little things like not leaving their keys in their cars, closing and locking both their house and car doors, and having neighbors collect their mail if out of town for an extended period.

Kennard said a big step in fighting all crime is for citizens to not make themselves inviting targets.

"If we can stop crimes of opportunity from happening. . . .Those are the ones that end up leading to more crime," Kennard said. "We want to try and eliminate crime at its lowest level through education of its citizenry."

West Jordan Police Capt. Gary Cox said a man recently arrested by his department told them he wouldn't even bother trying to steal things from cars that were locked.

"The last thing (criminals) want is to be seen or heard," Kennard said.

Crimes of opportunity are on the rise, Cox said, mainly in the southwest part of the valley where there is a lot of construction.

"It affects us, it affects our departments, it affects our communities," Babka said. "This is all about situational crime prevention."

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