MARYSVILLE — Certain types of crimes tend to increase during the holiday season, so to help keep the community safer in the upcoming weeks the Marysville Police Department is offering some useful holiday safety tips.

“Having been in law enforcement this long, I’ve seen what happens traditionally every year at the holiday season,” said Cmdr. Ralph Krusey, the Marysville Police Department’s Public Information Officer and a 38-year veteran of law enforcement. “What we wanted to do is to give you five or six helpful hints for you to keep in mind while out during the holiday season.”

The first tip Krusey offered was park your car in a well-lighted, visible area. “It’s also really important that when you go to and from your car that you have your keys in your hands so that you can get in you car quickly,” Krusey said.

Krusey also recommended that community members not leave packages, valuables or mail visible either in their vehicle or at their homes.

“Secure it your trunk or an area in the car where it can’t be seen,” he said. “Also, don’t make trips back and forth from shopping and putting stuff in your car because people who are casing vehicles in the parking lot will see you putting the objects in the trunk or the secured area and know it is there.”

Krusey also said it was important for residents to lock their homes and their vehicles. In addition, don’t leave your keys in the car and don’t leave the car running unattended. “Last year we had an incident where someone was warming their car up to go for Christmas with someone else and had packages in the car, and the car was stolen with all the packages,” he said.

The next tip offered by Krusey was to make the holiday a surprise by storing packages out of sight so that they can’t be seen from the street.

Community members should also check their mailboxes often. “Criminals know that during the holidays we receive gifts, checks and gift cards in the mail,” Krusey said. “And, don’t put the mail in your mailbox to mail out — take it to the post office.”

He also recommended added caution when driving. “There’s cold weather, there’s inclement weather, it’s rainy, sometimes there’s snow, and it gets dark earlier,” he said. “Driving through the parking lots of shopping centers during the holidays there’s an awful lot of people running between cars so be very cautious and careful.”