Palm Beach County burglaries are on the rise. 

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office urges residents to be on the lookout for suspicious strangers in your neighborhood, especially between the hours of 9 am and 2 pm on weekdays.  That’s the time frame in which 88% of home burglaries occur.

Burglars are becoming more creative in their attempt to gain entrance into neighborhoods while avoiding suspicion. One such example is the Papa John’s Pizza Delivery Scam. This ruse is most effective because people generally do not pay attention to a pizza delivery car in their neighbor’s driveway. Normal pizza deliveries are brief.  But a driver who lingers might warrant a phone call to the Sheriff’s non-emergency number at 561-995-2800 to help prevent a crime. If you think it looks suspicious, it probably is!

Theft of landscape equipment has increased recently. If you employ a landscaping service, please remind them to lock up unattended equipment while they are working on your property.  If you maintain your own property, don’t leave your garage door open while working in your backyard. It’s an open invitation for thieves to steal tools stored in the garage, or even to burglarize your home.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s sub-station, at the end of Clint Moore Road and across 441 from The Reserve, now has a drop off box located in the lobby to safely dispose of old prescriptions.

Check your credit history every month and pay attention to mysterious small amounts that appear on your account. Most thieves test the vulnerability of a target account by stealing a small amount initially. If the charge goes unnoticed the thief then increases the amount dramatically.

Lock your cars and do not leave valuables inside your parked car.  Five cars were recently broken into and one car was stolen in The Shores, the guard-gated community on our western border behind Symphony, Cape Sable and Pelican Cay.   

 For additional information please go to the official Palm Beach County Sheriff’s website at www.PBSO.org.