ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is kicking off an initiative in hopes of reducing crime this holiday season.
Between Black Friday deals, Small Business Saturday sales and discounts on Cyber Monday, shoppers are bound to make a few purchases, but deputies said they aren’t the only ones on the hunt this time of year. Burglars are also keeping their eyes peeled.
The Sheriff's Office said it sees a spike in residential burglaries around the holidays, which is why it has launched “Operation Burglar Box.”
In this video posted on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, deputies warned residents that criminals can pick their targets by looking through their trash.
“See how they're leaving all of their boxes. You can see there's electronics in that one,” Deputy First Class Yehuda Green said. “That could be a target for criminals when they're out this time of the year driving around."
Deputies said residents’ trash has the potential to show criminals what could be inside their homes.
"This time of the year you'll see all sorts of things. You'll see things from the brand new TVs to any sort of Apple product,” Green said. “We want to make sure the people of Orange County aren't going to leave those boxes outside because that's pretty much a calling card for them to say, 'Hey, come break into my house. Steal my things.'"
The Sheriff’s Office is providing the community free dumpsters across Orange County, which will serve as safe sites where residents can dump their holiday gift trash.
The burglary boxes are located at:
- Sector 1 Substation: 1111 North Rock Springs Rd. in Apopka
- Sector 2 Substation:11000 Lake Underhill Rd. in Orlando
- St. Luke's Methodist Church: 4851 South Apopka Vineland Rd. in Orlando
- Hunter’s Creek Target: 2155 Town Center Blvd. in Orlando
