The Oakland Police Department sent out a warning Thursday about “an uptick in residential burglaries where the individuals involved are disguised as Amazon workers” who ring the bell to see if you're home, and then they bust right in.
An alarming and violent new burglary strategy is coming to light from Oakland, and the Oakland Police Department is sounding the alarm. As reported by Bay City News, there has been an “uptick in residential burglaries where the suspects involved are disguising themselves as Amazon workers,” a trend described in a Thursday announcement from the Oakland Police Department.
“The Oakland Police Department (OPD) has seen an uptick in residential burglaries where the individuals involved are disguised as Amazon workers,” the department said in a Thursday Facebook announcement. “In several of the cases, individuals wearing Amazon delivery driver vests approach a residence and ring the doorbell to determine if the residence is occupied or not. The individuals then force entry into the residence, take several items, then flee the area in a vehicle.”
The department did not say exactly where these incidents had occurred (and there may be a strategic reason for that). But they did say that “OPD Commanders have begun deploying additional officers to areas of the city that have experienced an increase in residential burglaries.”
They also announced a set of recommendations for home safety; locking doors and windows, leaving lights on to make the place look occupied, and not allowing mail deliveries to pile up. This indicates the burglars are breaking in if they’ve concluded no one is home. The department also recommends getting a doorbell camera, though law enforcement may have other reasons to be fond of those.
Anyone in Oakland who sees potentially sketchy delivery driver activity is encouraged to “Call the OPD non-emergency number at (510) 777-3333, to report suspicious persons.”
Related: Oakland Police Warn of Surge In Thefts of Power Tools at Gunpoint [SFist]
Image: @dmackdaddy via Twitter
