Despite a “Stay at Home” Resolution being in place and a decrease in crime due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some Oxonians are still reporting crimes in their neighborhoods.

Oxford residents on Old Taylor Road have reported several burglarized vehicles over the past few days. According to the Oxford Police Department, there were three car burglaries on Monday, and they had a couple more reported over the weekend. Most of the reports of burglaries came from unlocked vehicles; according to OPD, more than 80 percent of burglaries in Oxford are a result of unsecured property.

“We’re adding extra officers in those areas and will be pushing out a reminder to keep your homes and cars locked via social media,” said Oxford police chief Jeff McCutchen.

On Tuesday night, OPD posted the #9PMRoutine on their social media accounts, which acts as a checklist of things for Oxford residents to do each night. Some of the items on the checklist include: removing valuables from a vehicle and locking its doors, closing the garage and locking the inner garage door, closing and locking exterior doors and windows and setting home and car alarms.

Since Oxford’s Board of Aldermen passed the “Stay at Home” Resolution on March 22, OPD has made 23 arrests, and other crime reports have dropped over the last eight days. McCutchen said the drop in numbers is for two different reasons, with one being who they’ve limited coming into the jail.

“We worked with the sheriff’s department a few weeks back to not expose currently held inmates by bringing more people into jail,” McCutchen said. “Obviously, the low number of people that are out and about influences those numbers. As a department we are trying to limit our exposure to people as well. We are trying to limit those face-to-face or hands-on interactions. It has been very helpful that our community is honoring and following the best practices to keep people safe.”

Over the same eight-day period, the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department has made nine arrests.