Naples, Florida is considered to be an extremely safe place to live but recently there's been more news than usual regarding burglaries in the 
area. It's hard to believe Naples is experiencing these types of crimes especially considering the fact that we could all once park our cars, leave all our junk in plain site with doors unlocked only to come back hours later to find everything right where we left it.
What's really kind of stupid about all of this new crime is what was stolen. Here are a few items that were stolen during a two week period:
- debit cards
- credit cards
- wallets
- social security cards (are you kidding me)
- currency
- purses
- cel phones
- keys
- jewelry...who leaves their jewelry in the car...sheesh
What's even more stupid is the fact that half (11) of the vehicles that were burglarized in one particular area were unlocked. WOW!
So, although you may be accustomed to keeping all your stuff out in the open and unlocked and have never had a problem, now might be a good time to practice a little safety.
Here are a few ideas:
- Lock your doors...yes at your houses and condos too. There were 8 home and condo burglaries during that same time. Wanna know how many of those doors were unlocked....sigh.
- Close your garage doors. One of those burglaries was due to an open garage door. The thief stole a bunch of stuff out of the car.
- Don't leave any valuables in plain site in your car. Alot of these burglaries are taking place in public places...they're not guessing if there's something good in there, they're probably seeing the items and going after them.
- If you have alarms, turn them on. They're not doing anybody any good disarmed!
- Keep your eyes open and be alert! Some crimes simply didn't go down because people tipped off the police. You know, many of us have phones with cameras on them today. It doesn't take two seconds to snap a shot of something of suspect...but be careful with this one. We certainly don't want you putting yourself in danger.
Regardless of the recent turn of event, Naples is still a pretty safe place to live. This is the latest data I could find supplied by the Collier County Sheriff website to support those statements but if you're concerned about your safety and you're considering Naples as an option, contact the Naples Police or the Naples Sheriff's department. They're not trying to sell you property and they'll tell you "exactly" what's going on.
For more information about what you can do to keep your property safe, check out the Collier County Sheriff's website. There's lots of great information there!
Best Regards,
Your Naples Smart Girl!
Serving my purpose through content rich informaton about Naples, Florida real estate!
Best Regards!
Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!
239-595-6223
www.ShannonLefevre.com
“The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of John R. Wood Realtors.”
Shannon, all great tips. We have heard similar things about a nearby fitness center, especially when people didn't lock their cars and left their wallets on the seat. I still think of Naples as very safe.
Smart advice, from a smart girl!
Hi Shannon :)
At least the thieves are leaving your houses alone. It's just ridiculous in some parts of Phoenix right now. I saw a guy haul a 2500 square foot ranch into a pawn shop the other day. Swear to god.
Well being from Manhattan originally, I have always locked the doors in the car..almost always. Of course, one of the few times i did not, I got burglarized. Unfortunately, it is a pity we have to keep our guard up, but it is the reality.
Great advice, although your statistics seem to show that most crime has been going steadily down in Collier County FL. Still, we do get mini "crime-spree" from time to time, and it's usually found to be just a handful of people working together and once they're caught, suddenly the crime rate goes down again.
We're really, really lucky to live in Naples. I live in the unincorporated part (Golden Gate Estates) and never had any crime against me. We lock our car doors just out of habit (we're from Jersey after all), but I still see people running into store WITH THEIR CARS RUNNING! Blows my mind!
But it is precisely this trusting "feeling" that visitors get when they come to Naples which makes it such a valuable vacation spot. People see Naples and they see:
Clean and Green. I've never been anyplace (except a very lucky trip to Ireland for a wedding) that was GREENER than Naples. Green, green everywhere. And clean? The sidewalks are white here, the streets have little in the way of oil stains -- and this is in a state which has no car inspections.
I think the CLEAN, which we take for granted now is one of the freshest aspects of Collier County. Way out where I live, everything is just as clean as it is elsewhere in Collier County. Roads are kept clean, people have PRIDE in their homes and sidewalks (when you have one!) -- and it is this pride in living-in-paradise which keeps Naples as a whole a fantastic place to visit and live. I've been to Tampa and to West Palm Beach and to a few other places around here, and everything looks GRAY and DIRTY. Naples never looks dirty. (even the unkept sections of Naples are STILL better looking than some of the BEST sections of other metropolican areas).
I think the best advice is: Women, keep your purse by you. Don't leave it in an unlocked car. In fact, don't leave them in plain sight in a locked car. Men, keep your briefcases and wallets by you, or in a locked car, but hidden.
That should solve 90% of those petty crimes.
Kenneth Udut, webmaster of http://free.naplesplus.us
Gary: Naples is safe. As much as it pained me to write this post, I did so because most of the crimes that are happening are because people aren't being resposible thus casting a dark shadow on our town. The last thing I want is for our wonderful snow birds to come down and have a bad vacation because of something like this.
Jeannie: Thank you!
Paul: You're silly! :)
Michael: I'm ashamed to admit, I've left a long list of great items a thief would like to get their hands on in plain site with doors unlocked. We have a responsibility that we haven't necessarily been exercising.
Kenneth: HEY STRANGER!!! It's been a REALLY LONG TIME since I've seen you around! I couldn't agree more with your points you made here. So good to see you! :)
Shannon you got some pretty good tips here. How about adding a can of mace to the list in case you catch them red handed:)
How refreshing to read real news with a positive twist. Our burglaries are up 100% from January 2008 to January 2009. This is an issue we are all dealing with. Crime is a part of all of our lives. You've proved yourself again to be the Smart Girl from Naples with the good advice and straight talk. With brains, beauty and polish you are definitely someone to look up to, but this blog sets you apart. You're not afraid to talk about the truth and what to do about it. What an inspiration...
BILL: Nice suggestion! :)
MAYA: Holy Cow, thank you for your kind words. This may be the sweetest comment I have ever received. Thank you. :)