Reported incidents were lower again in March. That follows the low in February, which was the lowest reported crimes since November, 2008.
 
Even though the previous overall total (February) was low, it did set a recent record for home burglaries (16) but we saw only six in March. Those six incidents were spread across the whole district; no one neighborhood was targeted. Non-residential building burglaries were restricted mostly to commercial areas. There was one exception in a neighborhood. Vehicle burglaries (17) were about the average of what we usually see. More of those incidents were in neighborhood areas.
 
Overall reports of theft were also low with shoplifting incidents much lower than we usually see. Those are the incidents where someone is caught. For the other thefts, there is seldom an immediate arrest. Typically, those thefts are in commercial areas but an alarming number were in residential areas this last month. It really does pay to remain alert and suspicious. It also pays to know your neighbors and to be watchful for each other.
 
If you want to review the areas that have reported incidents over the last month, download the complete report here for address-by-address information that includes your neighborhood. If you are a Garland resident reading this but do not live in District 1, you can get reports for your area here on the Police Department's website.