Criminals on the prowl during holiday season

Burglaries and domestic violence cases are up throughout some areas of Merced County -- an unsettling trend that often comes along with the holiday season.

Interim Chief Frank Pietro of the Atwater Police Department said both crime categories are up in his city by 5 percent. "'Tis the season," Pietro said. "This is the season where people are stressed out because of the financial picture."

He said the spike in crime usually subsides around February, but until then, the Atwater Police Department has a few tools at its disposal to combat the annual nuisance.

License-plate readers, including a portable reader, will be put to use to help place potential criminals at the scenes of crimes, Pietro said. The mobile reader will be positioned in various shopping centers, and foot and bike patrols will be implemented on Black Friday.

In Livingston, both domestic violence incidents and burglaries have been cut in half since last year, said Deanna Soria, director of professional services for the Livingston Police Department.

Nevertheless, burglaries do tend to increase later in the year, she said. There have been seven burglaries this month, and the largest month for burglaries so far this year was September. "It does tend to increase as we get closer to the holidays," Soria said.

However, the trend is not spread across every municipality in Merced County.

In Merced City, November and December are traditionally two of the lower months for domestic violence incidents, said Lance Eber, crime analyst for the Merced Police Department. "Historically speaking, our highest months for domestic violence are in the summer," he said.

The holidays won't always bring about a predictable spike in certain types of crime, Eber said.

Over the past year, domestic violence is down in Merced City, although the department has seen an increase in domestic violence cases involving weapons, he noted.

Burglaries have increased over the past year, he added.

Unincorporated areas of the county usually see a bump in domestic violence and burglaries during the holidays, said Deputy Tom MacKenzie, sheriff's spokesman. "The holidays are a very stressful time, especially with a bad economy," he said.

With family coming in from out of town, people staying inside more because of the cold and increased alcohol consumption, tempers -- and sometimes violence -- can flare, MacKenzie said.

Sheriff's Cmdr. B.J. Jones said the spike in crime is also in large part due to a lack of awareness by holiday shoppers. "It is absolutely a known fact that during the holidays, a lot more burglaries occur based on the shopping season," he said. "All the thieves know to go to the malls and the shopping centers and they look in cars and people don't secure their items in there -- they don't hide them."

Criminals will also take advantage of expensive gifts left under Christmas trees, Jones added. "Thieves definitely take advantage of the holidays to victimize people," he said.

But the national scene has drastically improved, as crime rates in the U.S. are down over the past decade. Violent crime has dropped by 33.5 percent, while property crime has dropped by 19.2 percent during the time period, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

While it's common for burglaries and domestic violence to increase during the holidays, the FBI also warns that cyber theft is also on the rise during the winter months, as more people make online purchases and submit personal information online.

Reporter Mike North can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or mnorth@mercedsunstar.com.