Morristown Public Safety: Weather's Getting Nice, But Lock Doors

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Death, taxes and people leaving their doors unlocked. The third doesn't have to be a fact of life, according to the Morristown Department of Public Safety.

The warm weather gives potential burglars more opportunities to steal if people aren't careful, according to the department.

"When the time comes to start wearing shorts and flip flops, there is a tendency to open up our house doors and windows," they wrote on Facebook. "When you’ve finished hanging out in the back yard, make sure you take a minute to lock up again.

"When you find yourself cruising around town singing through the open car windows (you know you do it), just make sure that you put the windows back up and lock the doors when you get out."

Most thefts reported to Morristown police come from unlocked cars, open garages and unsecured houses. The public safety department encouraged people to get in the habit of checking everything before they go to bed.

Fortunately for Morristown, burglaries and thefts have trended downward in recent years, according to the Department of Public Safety's most recent annual report. The town averaged 86.7 burglaries per year from 2008-10 and only 16.3 annually from 2017-19.

In terms of larceny and theft, Morristown averaged 388 reported cases per year from 2008-10. The town logged 190.7 per year from 2017-19. That said, the town reported 24 motor vehicle theft cases in 2018 — its highest total in the available data that goes back to 2008. The agency reported 11 in 2018 and four in 2019.

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