Package theft
- Use a locker, a hold-at-store option, or a signature requirement for anything valuable.
- Have deliveries sent to a workplace where someone is there to receive them.
- Cameras help with recovery and prosecution more than with prevention.
- Report it — unreported porch theft is invisible in the data that drives patrol allocation.
Retail theft and the new felony exposure
For shoppers, retail theft season mostly means crowded stores and more security presence. For anyone tempted by it, Proposition 36 changed the math in 2024: repeat theft offenders can now face felony charges even under the $950 line. See shoplifting penalties and Prop 47.
Vehicle break-ins
- Nothing visible in the car. Not a bag, not a charging cable, not an empty box.
- Put purchases in the trunk before you drive to the next stop, not after you park at it.
- Park where there is light and foot traffic. Structure corners are where the glass ends up.
Holiday DUI
The stretch from Thanksgiving through New Year's is the busiest DUI enforcement period of the year in Southern California, with checkpoints publicized in advance and saturation patrols on the weekends between. It is also the period when our phone rings most at 2 a.m. Plan the ride home before the party, not during it — DUI bail bonds covers what happens if you did not.