Douglas Athas, Mayor-Elect

While reported home burglaries fell to the second-lowest point in about three years, car burglaries remained stubbornly on the higher side of such incidents over that same period. In January, many of the car burglaries were in retail areas but quite a few were also in neighborhoods. It is always important to park where your car can be seen by crowds and even more important to not leave items visible that might attract a burglar's attention.
 
From none last month, there were a total of ten sexual assaults, robberies, or aggravated assaults, several times higher than any typical month. Again, most of these incidents were in areas other than a neighborhood. In either case, it is important to remain aware and in areas that offer the most safety.
 
Thefts tied the low in May, making both months the lowest since August, 2008. Usually many of the incidents involve shoplifting but those cases were less than half of the total in January.
 
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 or from your Council member.