Travel plans?

With summer break and long vacations just around the corner, area residents looking to help ensure their homes remain just as they left them need look no further than the Mountain Brook Police Department.

Mountain Brook residents can ask to be put on the police department’s House Watch List at no cost prior to leaving. 

Police Sgt. Drew Evans said all residents have to do is call the department’s dispatch line and ask to be put on the list. 

Residents will have to answer a few questions, he said, including what dates they will be out of town, the names of anyone who will stop by the house including maid services, pet care or lawn care, as well as descriptions of vehicles that will be left behind. Knowing who and what officers should expect to see will help them better determine when someone is not supposed to be there, Evans said.

Traveling residents are also asked to provide the police department with an emergency contact number. 

Police Chief Ted Cook said Mountain Brook’s reputation as one of the wealthiest cities in the state travels far and wide. It’s not uncommon, he said, for officers to arrest criminals from as far away as Decatur and Mobile lured into the city by the promise of wealth.

“What we hear from those we arrest is that ‘Mountain Brook has the good stuff,” Cook said. 

Rather than use that information to alarm residents, Cook said he hopes it will remind the community to always be mindful of their surroundings and use resources such as the department’s watch list. 

“Criminals these days are much more mobile,” he said. “Residents shouldn’t hesitate to contact police if something seems off.”

Because a lot of the crimes the department sees are crimes of opportunity, Cook and Evans stressed the importance of locking doors and windows on cars as well as homes.

Houses on the watch list are ideally patrolled once a day, Evans said, depending on the availability of officers and the amount of calls they respond to. Rather than simply drive by the house, he said officers will get out of their vehicles and walk around the outside of the house to check for abnormalities. 

Besides signing up to be on the watch list, Evans recommends residents either have someone pick up their mail or have their mail temporarily stopped to avoid it piling up.

“When mail begins to pile up,” he said, “it’s a pretty clear sign to criminals that no one is home.”

The same logic applies to newspapers, Evans said. It’s never a good idea to have them pile up outside either. 

Homeowners might also consider installing house lights set on a timer to turn on and off throughout the day to give outsiders the perception that someone is home, he said. 

“It’s also a good idea to mow the lawn before you leave,” Evans said about a part of residents’ properties often overlooked ahead of trip plans. “Take care of any lawn maintenance that needs to be done. If the house looks unkempt, it might signal that no one is home.”

For more information, contact the Mountain Brook Police Department at 802-2414 or 879-0486.