Departments > Police

(Also available in a PDF version)

The winter/holiday break is fast approaching, and the ACCPD knows that many of our local students will be leaving their homes here unattended for an extended period of time.  While we will take every opportunity and make every effort to provide excellent service to our citizens and students, by conducting frequent patrols, and partnering with the University of Georgia Police, we realize that some burglaries and property crimes will occur.

Bearing these facts in mind, along with an unprecedented number of property crimes occurring in and around Athens, the ACCPD is encouraging citizens who will be leaving town to exercise caution, and to take preventive measures to help ensure that they are not victimized.

• Lock all doors (utilizing deadbolts if available) and windows upon embarking on your holiday trips.  If you have a sliding glass door in your home or apartment, place a dowel or commercially available sliding door lock in the channel.
• Arm your alarm system whenever you leave your home, especially for an extended period. Also make sure that you have updated emergency contacts with both your alarm company and the Police Department. (*If you need to update the police department, call (706) 613-3345 to do so.)
• Consider the purchase of a light timer, or leave lights on prior to leaving. If you are environmentally conscious, use a CFL bulb to save on energy usage.
• If leaving for your holiday trip, consider taking high value items with you, or in the case of larger items that are hard to move, consider moving them to a closet to conceal them. (Examples of the sorts of items that have been frequently stolen in our recent burglaries are:  laptop computers, flat-screen televisions, gaming systems like the PS3 or XBOX360, iPods and other mp3 players, and jewelry.)
• If you have friends or neighbors that you trust that are staying behind, ask them to keep an eye on your home/apartment.

We at the ACCPD realize that some of these steps require some planning, and could be very inconvenient, but these steps may save you money, and in the case of computers, may save valuable school work from being lost forever.