Welcome to this month’s PENS, Police Email Notification System, bulletin. This monthly bulletin is brought to you from the Cobb County Police, Precinct 5 Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU5) and is designed to keep you aware of safety alerts and crime trends in your area and measures you can take to keep you and your family safe.

The increase in the popularity of home security video systems not only helps the individual homeowner with the security of their property, but it can contribute to the safety and security of the neighborhood. The “Ring Neighbors App” links together participating neighbors’ systems into a network that allows the participates to post videos of suspicious activity for others to view. You do not have to be a Ring customer or use a Ring product to upload pictures or videos to the “Ring Neighbors App”. This helps keep the neighborhood aware of any criminal activity that is afoot. These videos can also be viewed by detectives investigating these incidents and assist with identifying suspects. The “Ring Neighbors App” also allows police to map clusters of criminal activity so officers can concentrate patrols in these areas.

The more homeowners that participate in the “Ring Neighbors App” the greater chance we all have in deterring crime and keeping our community safe. Please see the included links for more information about the “Ring Neighbors App”.

What is the Ring Neighborhood APP and what can it do/FAQ

How well the Ring Neighborhood app works when you partner with the Police Department

Absolutely Not. Ring has gone to great lengths to ensure their customer's privacy. The only video Law Enforcement can see are the ones you share to the Neighbors App or share directly with them.

Unfortunately, Police Officers don’t know who is a stranger in every neighborhood but YOU DO! Sharing photos and video allows detectives to link suspects to crimes but more importantly prevent crime before it happens.

Absolutely nothing! Ring saw the importance of creating a bridge between you, your neighbors and the police. They then created the app so everyone could come together and share information to build safer neighborhoods.

You can download the app from the “iPhone app store” for free or from “Google play” for free.

Yes! Once you have the app you can upload video or still photos from your handheld device. You can upload Ring video, Nest, Arlo or Smartphone pictures and video straight from your device.

Tips and Help for uploading and sharing videos and photos to your neighborhood

Ladies and Gentlemen, our current crime trends continue to be Entering Autos. The bulk of the Entering Autos are taking place overnight and early in the morning. The majority of all the Entering Autos have been UNLOCKED vehicles with valuables including guns left inside. PLEASE remove all valuables especially guns from your vehicles every time you park and leave the vehicle. During these Entering Autos, we had several vehicles that were also stolen. The perpetrators were able to steal the vehicles because victims had left their Key Fobs inside the vehicles. Even if you hide the Key Fob it still allows the perpetrator to hit the push-button start and leave with the vehicle. Remove all keys and key fobs before leaving your vehicle. Also, double check that ALL vehicle doors are locked.

If you observe someone breaking into vehicles do not approach them and immediately call 911. From a safe place provide 911 with an accurate description of the suspects, involved vehicles, and what direction the suspect is going. NO property is worth getting hurt over.

Scams are nothing new to the criminal game. One of the most common one in Cobb County is the Pine Straw Scam. The homeowner is quoted a price and about half way through completion of the job they are advised that the job will go over the quote. The homeowner assumes the increase maybe a few more hundred dollars but at the end the price is a thousand or two more. Sometimes the owner refuses to pay the ridiculous amount and a lower amount is settled on but unfortunately some feel intimidated and feel like they must pay. In this type of scam, the elderly are their target of choice.

There has been an increase of phone / internet scams. These scams vary in topic and method but the common goal is to get the victim to send them money by trickery, threats, and blackmail. They will have the victim send money through a cash app or gift card. PCT 5 recently had an Uber driver that was hired to go the victim’s house and pick up cash. These suspects are very hard to identify and trace. They will use cash apps, emails, and internet phone numbers that are set up with fictitious personal information and also use a third party who may not beware of the criminal activity.

Their internet anonymity allows them to conduct scams all over the world. It is very possible that the criminal contacting you is not even in the United States so even if somehow Law Enforcement was able to identify them, there isn’t a practical way in prosecuting.

There isn't one single scam, like the pine straw scam, I can warn you about. These criminals are very imaginative and produce some decent stories. Some common themes are:

The best defense against this is awareness of scammers and your social media accounts. If you suspect anything isn’t legit, do not respond and DO NOT SEND THEM ANY MONEY! If they receive money from you, they will continue the threats or blackmail in hopes you will send them more money. If the email, phone call, or text is from a company, call that company directly to verify the message.

Your social media footprint and basic on line information is generally their source for your information.

Computer savvy criminals can obtain a great deal of information about you.

Evan If you choose not to contact the police, DO NOT PAY!

Remember to CALL 911 to report any suspicious persons or activity. If you see something, say something!

The Cobb County Police Camera Registration program is a police/community video partnership that operates on a voluntary basis with homeowners, neighborhoods and business owners who own private video surveillance systems. We encourage both businesses and residents to register their cameras online by completing the form below.

This program is intended to let our officers know where cameras are active in the county in case a crime occurs. It is not intended for active surveillance, and officers will not have direct access to homeowners' cameras. Those who register a camera will be contacted if a crime occurs in the vicinity of that camera.

Information provided by residents and businesses will be maintained in a secure database.

If you have not already signed up to receive the monthly PENS updates, please subscribe. Feel free to forward this e-mail to your HOA members and local businesses.

PENS is also sending out bulletins and alerts through its partnership with Nextdoor.com. Discover if your neighborhood is already signed up so you may join. If not, they will provide you with the necessary information.

Det. Lieutenant J.B Wade Det. Sergeant J.T. Rainwater Cobb County Police Department Criminal Investigation Unit Pct. 5 4640 Dallas Highway Powder Springs, GA 30127 (770) 499-4578

E. S. VanHoozer, Chief of Police J.D. Ferrell, Deputy Chief of Police B.D. Cohen, Deputy Chief of Police S.C. Kucynda, Deputy Chief of Police 545 S. Fairground Street Marietta, GA 30060

HQ Business Hours: Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Precinct 1 (NW): (770) 499-4181 Precinct 2 (SW): (770) 499-4182 Precinct 3 (SE): (770) 499-4183 Precinct 4 (NE): (770) 499-4184 Precinct 5 (W): (770) 499-4185

Chief's Office: (770) 499-3904 Community Education: (770) 499-4134 Evidence: (770) 499-4128 Explorer Program: (770) 528-8388 False Alarm: (770) 528-3819 Internal Affairs: (770) 528-3812 Alcohol Permits: (770) 499-3932 Public Information: (770) 499-3910 Rangers: (770) 528-8865 Robbery/Homicide: (770) 499-3945 Special Operations: (770) 499-3987 Training: (770) 499-4100

Cobb County Government is an equal opportunity employer. Cobb County Government does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or the provision of services. It is also a Drug-Free Workplace.