Both Brookhaven and Lincoln County have seen an increase in the number of burglaries this year, but law enforcement officials say they are on the case.

Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing reported an arrest in a case that arose recently.

Rushing said that Denard Ferguson, 31 and Joshua Poindexter, 23, both of McComb, were arrested Monday in connection with the burglary of a Suzuki motorbike from Shannon Drive on July 5.

Rushing said the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of the Southwest Mississippi Narcotics Unit and McComb Police Department, was able to track the two down from tips they received.

“We’ve been working on it all week,” Rushing said. He said they’re still working to investigate this case and the other recent burglaries.

Ferguson and Poindexter are currently being held in the Pike County Jail charged with possession of stolen property, but Rushing said as the case develops more charges are possible. Poindexter was on probation with the Department of Corrections.

With reports from the sheriff’s office putting thefts and burglaries in the county at 107 between January and June of this year, along with 306 calls of the same nature in the city, it has become paramount that people know what to do to protect their belongings. In addition, it’s also important to know the correct steps to take if you are the victim of crime.

Rushing said one of the first things, of course, is to contact the authorities.

Brookhaven Police Chief Bobby Bell said if your home has been broken into, the first thing to do is to back out, get to a phone and call the police.

“You don’t know if the perpetrator is still there or not,” he said.

Both Rushing and Bell said that it’s important to leave everything as is at the scene, whether it is your home or vehicle.

“Try not to touch anything,” Rushing said. “So officers have a chance to check for fingerprints and other physical evidence.”

Rushing said the next step would include trying to determine what is missing. He said the biggest help to them in the past has been when people keep records of serial numbers for things such as guns and TVs.

“Most electronics have a GPS or apps so you can trace them if they’re stolen,” Bell said.

He said its best to always leave electronics on so they can be easily traced in the event of a theft.

For Apple devices, such resources include iCloud and the Find My iPhone app. For Android devices, users can track an active device through their Google account as long as it’s connected. Android users can also track phone usage by looking at their Google Maps location history, also available when the phone is on and connected to their Google account.

In the event of a purse or wallet stolen, victims should contact credit card companies and banks with an alert that their cards have been taken. If a Social Security card is among the items stolen, information about a replacement can be found online at www.ssa.gov.

Both the chief and sheriff say the ultimate protection for your vehicle is to make sure it is locked and secure with any valuables inside kept out of sight.

“The first thing they do is check to see if the door is locked,” Bell said about vehicles.

He said if they look inside and see something of value they will break through to get it.

Bell suggests that merchandise and other valuables be placed in the trunk to combat this.

In regards to home safety, Rushing said to avoid posting on Facebook or other social media sites when leaving your home. He said the office has come across suspects that are on Facebook looking for vacant homes.

“We live in real rural area which makes it hard for us to find witnesses,” Rushing said.

He recommends alarm systems and cameras to make sure if your home is burglarized there is a higher chance to catch the culprit.