Crime Prevention Tips for Home, Work and Neighborhood Safety

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Deputy Tammy Cuscaden was in attendance Thursday at the monthly Greater Seffner Area Chamber of Commerce meeting to discuss crime prevention tips for home, work and neighborhood safety.

"We would certainly rather prevent crime than investigate it," Cuscaden said, at the chamber's June 14 luncheon at the First Baptist Church of Mango, where Libby Libhart of LossBusters also offered a series of safety tips to consider.

Noticed a lot, and especially at shopping centers and places of work, are people walking to their cars with packages in hand and fingers fumbling for keys inside their pockets and purses.

"Ladies walking out to their cars, with packages and possessions, looking in their pocketbooks for their car keys, it's a perfect target for any criminal," Cuscaden said. "Get your keys out before you leave your place of business and look around you. Be aware of your surroundings."

Cuscaden will celebrate next month her 25th year as a community resource deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. She said she has been in the Greater Brandon area since 2001.

Car burglaries happen "a lot," she said, noting the frequency of people leaving their laptops, purses, wallets and other valuable possessions "in the front seat and in plain view."

"Don't leave [your belongings] in the car," where thieves can see them, she said. Carry them with you, or "lock them in the trunk."

Landscaping needs a greater consideration.

"You never want bushes growing up and above the windows," Cuscaden said.

Another tip? Use "aggressive landscaping," she said, "anything with thorns."

Cuscaden said the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has been successful with its push for "intelligence-led policing," which means, "targeting the bad buys."

"When they're released from jail or prison, what are they doing and who are they associating with?" Keeping that focus, she said, aids in the battle against crime.

At home and at work, citizens can help take the bite out of crime by making sure their alarm systems are working properly. If cameras are installed in banks, offices or shops, make sure they are pointed in the right direction, Cuscaden said, and that "no displays are blocking their view."

In the office or at work, make sure your checkbooks and personal identification are out of sight and locked up, otherwise "people can walk in a small business and snatch them," Cuscaden said.

Inform the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office of your plans to go on vacation. An extra watch is possible through the Vacation Watch program.

For information about crime prevention, call the main dispatch number, 813-247-8200, and ask for the Community Outreach Division. Cuscaden can be reached at 813-247-8506.

Chamber member Libby Libhart, on behalf of the LossBusters division of the LL Training and Consultant Group, also offered some crime-prevention tips.

He made a plug for pre-employment screening. "What do you know about" the people you hire, he asked. Considering that at the outset could save your business from damage, he said.

Put into place strong auditing practices. "Don't allow someone to do [both] your banking and your banking reconciliation," he said. The person who writes the checks shouldn't then account for those checks.

Going on vacation? Discontinue newspaper delivery and the mail. Make sure a system is in place to turn lights on and off during your absence. Ask a neighbor to park a car in your driveway and to take out the garbage, even empty cans, to "make somebody think you're home."

And when you go on vacation, "don't put it on Facebook," Libhart added. "Your unfriendly 'friends' can know where you live," he said. And you don't want them to know "when you're going and when you're coming back."

Libhart offers daily security loss-prevention tips on Twitter @LossBusters. For more crime-prevention tips, visit LossBusters online.

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Greater Seffner Area Chamber of Commerce: Upcoming Events

• June 17 — Dinosaur World, free admission for dad's on Father's Day, with a fully paid child admission. / Time: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. / 5145 Harvey Tew Rd., Plant City.

• June 26 — Business After Hours, third anniversary celebration, , Seffner. / Time: 5:30-7 p.m. / 1209 Kingsway Rd. (at Windhorst Road).

• June 27 — Social Media Workshop, facilitated by Libby Libhart, president of the LossBusters Division of LL Training and Consultant Group. Features Joanie Sigal, of SJS Associates. Meeting space donate by Delaney Creek Lodge. Chef Phil breakfast, $5; workshop cost, $10. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. / Time: 8-9 a.m. / 320 S. Lakewood Dr., Seffner.