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ALBANY, GA -- The Albany Police Department is prepping the public on precautions to take during this year’s holiday season.

APD says they are most concerned with theft and entering auto incidents.

They say when shopping to be aware of your surrounding and be sure to lock your car doors. APD says to take as many valuables as you can out of your car, and if you do leave a valuable in the car be sure to hide it in the trunk or glove compartment.

If you can afford a home alarm system, APD says they highly recommend investing in it; for those who can’t afford it they say to be sure to have good locks on doors and windows.

They also recommend protecting your home against thieves looking for Christmas presents by not displaying Christmas trees in windows.

Albany police say they are changing their shifts to 12 hours to help with seasonal crime.

“You always have people out, folks are going out of town so what we want to do is we want to be out there letting the bad guys know hey we're out here, we see you, we're going to get you,” says Capt. Tracey Barnes.

Officers say at some points there will be 30 patrol cars on the roads; they say it will help with better response times.