Straight Talk: Community can stop determined thieves

By Lt. Col. Dan Hulsebosch, U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii Directorate of Emergency ServicesSeptember 18, 2009

Recent thefts in U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii communities have shown us that properly securing your property is not always enough to deter the determined thief.

Incidents of locks and chains being cut and motor scooters and motorcycles being taken have hit our housing communities.

Even our schools are not immune from the determined thief. Over the Labor Day weekend, thieves broke into Hale Kula Elementary School, Schofield Barracks. They spent some time breaking into numerous classrooms, taking laptop computers, flat screen TVs and musical instruments. All these items, the thieves carried out to their waiting vehicle.

What can be done to deter the determined thief' An active community is the best defense. When community members see something that looks suspicious, they should call the police.

Tired of criminal mischief in your neighborhood but concerned about getting involved' The Directorate of Emergency Services has a system where community members can submit anonymous crime tips to the military police (MP) station via cell phone text messaging or on a computer.

To submit a text message tip through your personal cell phone, do the following:

1) Type "TIP730" and provide your tip information (for example, John Doe stole a plasma TV from 123 Main Street),

2) Type "Crimes" (or the numbers 274637) in the "to" line, and

3) Hit "Send."

To submit a tip via your computer:

1) Go to <a href="https://www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm"> https://www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm</a>,

2) Enter country and state information, and select either Schofield or Shafter from the pull down screens,

3) Provide as much tip information you have on the following Web page, and

4) Click on "submit tip."

Tipsters are given an alias to allow for anonymous two-way communication should the MP station require more information.

Additional information regarding our anonymous crime tip program is provided through community bulletin channels.

Please continue to report emergencies by dialing 911 or contacting the Schofield and Shafter MP Stations at 655-7114 and 438-7114, respectively.