Nancy Pittman of Brookhaven said she’d heard a million ways tokeep herself safe before, but she actually had to think about itWednesday morning when local law enforcement spoke to a group atthe Jimmy Furlow Senior Citizen Center.

“I’d heard several things, but I just haven’t been followingthem,” she said.

Brookhaven Police Chief Pap Henderson and Southwest MississippiInterjurisdictional Narcotics Enforcement Unit Deputy CommanderJohn Douglas spoke to several seniors to tell them different waysto protect themselves, their identities and their environments.

Henderson and Douglas started off by telling the group of waysto help keep their homes safeguarded against burglary, telling themto set timers that turn lights and radios off and on.

“Get someone to get your mail and your newspaper,” Douglassaid.

Meanwhile, he said, burglars know where to look for spare keysboth at homes and on vehicles. It’s good to have a friend or familymember who carries your spare, he said.

“Don’t you think criminals know where to look for your keys?”Douglas said. “My best friend has a key to my house, which may nothelp immediately in an emergency, but in an emergency, I’ll bustthe window out.”

There are scams out there, too, Douglas said. Sometimes peoplefigure out ways to take things from vulnerable people withouthaving to use force.

“They’re not all going to come up with a ball bat or a hammerand knock you in the head,” he said. “They’ll make you give themyour money, and make it sound like it’s too good to be true.”

Henderson said arrests have been made recently in a scam wheretwo men from Jackson were selling what were supposed to be laptopcomputers. He said there was a price tag on the boxes that saidthey were worth almost $700.

“Then they’d say, ‘But I’m going to let you have it for $200,'”Henderson said. “When you make it home, all that was in that boxwas a $1.50 notebook full of notebook paper.”

Another recent scam, Henderson said, has come from people whoclaim to sell camcorders. They’ll have a model for demonstration,then sell the victim a “camera” in a box. He said when thoseperpetrators were arrested, they begged for mercy and promised thatthey wouldn’t do it again.

“I told them, ‘I’m not the Lord, but I know you won’t do thisanymore, because you’re going to jail,'” he said.

Both of those scams were overturned by alert citizens, Hendersonsaid.

“Any tip you can give us, we need it. It may lead to something,it may not,” he said. “You can always call us. We’re open 365 daysa year, 24 hours a day.”

And officials also warned the group about things that look likefree money.

Henderson and Douglas said there are scams where people receivechecks and are told to transfer a certain amount of money to alocation and they’ll be allowed to keep the rest of the money. Inaddition, there are also people who will claim to need to transfermoney into the United States through victims’ bank accounts, andend up taking their money as well.

Some people will scam victims to their faces. A threat can comenot only from a mysterious letter or e-mail, but also from peoplewho seem like everyday citizens.

“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” Douglas said.”These people won’t be wearing prison stripe pants. They’ll bedressed just like normal people.”

And Henderson re-issued his standard warning against leavingvisible valuables in a car, saying that causes problems quiteoften.

“You may leave a purse that you know has no money in it, butthat criminal doesn’t know that,” he said. “He’ll still bust yourwindow to get it, and you could have saved that window simply bypushing it under the seat.”

Mostly, Henderson said, it’s important for citizens to rememberto be aware of the dangers.

“Most people get up and go to work to make an honest living,” hesaid. “But we still have that percentage that get up to go to workagainst you to take your valuable property.”

Senior Citizen Center Director Nancy Ray said she wants localseniors to know that they have options against crime in theirareas.

“We want them to become more aware of what the police departmentcan do for them, as well as scams and safety precautions to beaware of,” she said.