Area law enforcement officers are doling out their usual holiday safety tips for shoppers and travelers, but this year it includes one unique recommendation thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic: Avoid large gatherings, and stay home if possible.
“Avoid large social gatherings, mask up, keep your social distancing,” Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton said. “… We know family members are going to be interacting, so I suggest they sanitize, wash their hands, practice social distancing as much as you can, especially if you have people coming in and out of your home.”
Gov. Tate Reeves issued an executive order earlier this month restricting indoor social gatherings to 10 people and outdoor social gatherings to 50 people in order to help curb the spread of COVID-19. While local law enforcement officers say they will not be actively searching for gatherings to break up, they do recommend residents follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney pointed out there is still a curfew from midnight to 4 a.m. for his county. Clay County also has a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., though the curfew begins at midnight for those inside West Point city limits, according to Clay County Emergency Management Agency Director Torrey Williams.
“People … need to understand that too, along with the social distancing,” Gladney said. “With the numbers going up with COVID, these large parties … we’re discouraging that.”
Mississippi is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases, including more than 3,800 cases since the pandemic began in Lowndes County, 3,100 in Oktibbeha County and 1,200 in Clay County as of Monday, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Because of the pandemic, many of the usual holiday-related crimes are down this year — Shelton said fewer car burglaries have been reported this year than previous years, as more people stay home to do their Christmas shopping online. However, he said that shouldn’t make people complacent.
“Still follow safety rules as if we weren’t in a pandemic,” he said. “(Use) situational awareness, like not leaving gifts in the car, not putting trash out that shows you got a new 80-inch television at this home.”
In West Point, Assistant Police Chief Kennedy Meaders said officers are still getting reports of car burglaries, but that this year they’re coming from residential areas, rather than retail parking lots.
“We are seeing more car burglaries, not so much at places like Walmart or something like that, but we’re seeing more residential-wise,” he said. “I think as the holiday gets closer, they may pick up.”
Area law enforcement officers have long warned shoppers to keep their car doors locked and leave any valuables, including shopping bags, in the trunk or even take them home before continuing shopping.
“I say that because the majority of the burglaries that we’ve worked, especially automobiles, the doors are open,” Meaders said. “… You’ve got people who are out (at) 3 o’ clock in the morning, and they’re just going to people’s residences, to their homes, and checking the doors on cars. If the door’s open, that’s just an invitation to go in and do what they want to do.”
That also goes for packages and boxes outside homes, with Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard and Meaders recommending residents retrieve packages delivered to their homes as quickly as possible so no one steals them from the front door step.
For people who are leaving town, Columbus, Starkville and West Point police departments, as well as Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office, all have home watch programs where residents can fill out forms at the police departments asking for officers to look after their homes while they’re gone.
As it gets closer to New Year’s Eve, officers also said they would increase patrols and set up sobriety checkpoints throughout the community to deter drinking and driving.
Beginning this weekend, Shelton said CPD will add up to 10 officers to its usual eight-officer patrol shifts. Meaders said WPPD will add about seven or eight officers to its four-officer shifts beginning around the same time.
SPD, which is participating in Mississippi Highway Patrol’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign through Jan. 1, will have between six and 10 extra officers out, Ballard said.
Several law enforcement authorities said despite the added precaution, they don’t expect as many people on the street this year due to the pandemic.
“The pandemic has changed a lot and I think it’s something that we need to be very mindful of as we go through the holiday seasons,” Ballard said.
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