Lock and Secure Your Valuables

As the Summer travel season begins, Clinton Police are encouraging residents to lock their cars and secure their valuables in order to prevent thefts.

Chief Ford Hayman and Mayor Phil Fisher continue to identify locked vehicles and secured valuables as the key to prevention of property crimes in Clinton. If all residents of Clinton made the locking of cars and carports a habit, property crime would be nearly eliminated in Clinton. 

In fact, recent reports suggest that cutting property crime in half would place Clinton ahead of Madison for safest city in Mississippi. Currently, Clinton ratres as the third safest City in Mississippi. Read more.

"Most vehicle break-ins and residential burglaries are crimes of opportunities and if a vehicle or building is locked, a criminal will usually move on," Chief Ford Hayman noted. "Locking car doors will substantially decrease the likelihood of being victimized. Of the 48 auto burglaries in the city in 2018, only a couple of the crimes involved forced entry through broken windows’"

Additionally, removing valuables like computers, purses, sunglasses, and firearms from a vehicle at night would deter theft. Unattended firearms are not only a popular target for criminals, but they exhibit an irresponsibility of the owner in protecting themselves and their property.

 “Every day, the hard working men and women of the Clinton Police Department are out there in force doing their best to keep crime down," Chief Ford Hayman noted. "Oftentimes though, it is the partnership with the public that helps get us the results.”

Chief Hayman highlighted, that if residents actively participate in the Lock it or Lose it campaign, our community could potentially eliminate property crimes.

Recent crime stats show significant reductions in burglaries from over 180 in 2013 to just over 48 in 2018 then a jump up to 88 in 2020. Of those 88 burglaries, only three (3) involved forced entry into the vehicle, all others were unlocked doors with valuables left in plain sight.

"Most vehicle break-ins and residential burglaries are crimes of opportunities and if a vehicle or building is locked, a criminal will usually move on," Chief Ford Hayman noted. "Locking car doors will substantially decrease the likelihood of being victimized. Of the 48 burglaries, only three crimes involved forced entry through broken windows’"