Salt Lake City police warning people about burglary

Those uniformed people going door-to-door in your neighborhood Halloween morning are not early trick-or-treaters — they are real police with some advice.

Salt Lake City police are focused on cutting down on burglary this year. As part of that effort, community intelligence officers will be going through the south-central area of the city from about 8 until 11 a.m. to caution residents with vulnerable property on how to protect themselves.

Open garage doors and unsecured property are just two of the mistakes that makes theft easy for would-be burglars, according to a news release.

Police Chief Chris Burbank announced a year-long anti-burglary campaign at the annual Night Out Against Crime event last August. The chief wants to see burglary in the city down by 25 percent by next year's Night Out.

Officers analyzed about 2,000 cases from June 2012 through May 2013 and found about 25 percent of residential burglary victims had not secured their property — such as leaving doors unlocked or garage doors open — making it easy for a thief. At the August event, Burbank challenged people to take some time and energy to secure their homes and vehicles so that they do not become victims of opportunity.

mmcfall@sltrib.com

Twitter: @mikeypanda