Holiday Safety Tips From Millbrae Police Chief Paul Kunkel

From the City of Milbrae:

December 19, 2019

Holiday Safety Tips From Millbrae Police Chief Paul Kunkel

Hi, I'm Paul Kunkel, Chief of Police Services for the Millbrae Police Bureau, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. We wanted to wish the entire community a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays. We have a few tips for you to safely get through this season and have a wonderful holiday season.

Our first safety tip regards phone scams. If anyone calls you on your cell phone or your home phone and they demand you give them money or they tell you they're from the IRS, Social Security, the INS, the Sheriff's Office, or any other government agency, please hang up on them. No one from the government is ever going to call you and threaten you with arrest if you don't pay them.

As this is a season of giving, many of us shop online. This sadly creates a interesting new crime that we refer to as "porch pirates." They're the people who steal packages that are delivered for you at your house. If you see someone at your neighbour's house who you've never seen before, you don't think they belong there, and they're not delivering anything, they're grabbing a package and leaving, please call 911 right away.

Auto burglary continues to be a problem. We want to encourage people to not leave anything visible in their car. That's bags from shopping, to your luggage. The old days of covering it up with a towel or a jacket or a blanket, that doesn't work anymore. If you're going to leave anything in your car, please make sure it's secured, out of sight, in your trunk.If you see someone looking around a parking lot and looking in the cars, please call 911.

Lastly, it's a holiday season and you have lots of friends, and they're probably gonna invite you to all their parties. When you go to these parties, please drink responsibly. If you have a drink or two, please designate a driver, use a ride share service, call a cab, walk, or have a friend take you. Whatever it takes, we want you to get home safely, we don't want you to get hurt, and we don't want anyone else to get hurt by you.

This press release was produced by the City of Milbrae. The views expressed here are the author’s own.