Sound like the police blotter from East San Jose? Try the quaint town of Los Gatos.

"This is really a very safe community with a very low level of assault or physical violence," Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Chief Scott Seaman recently told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. "But we do have a level of property crime that requires people to be vigilant."

Recent robberies and burglaries have highlighted the need for local residents and visitors to be aware of their surroundings and take necessary precautions.

According to police department data, there were 369 property thefts reported in Los Gatos in 2003 and 420 in 2004. The primary motive in many of the cases is probably drug use, Seaman said.

"Our county drug task force is seeing a very significant use of methamphetamines, and that's a crime that I think drives a need for cash to keep a habit up," he said. "We know that there have been people who are looking to get high that go out as a group and ravage an area, stealing from cars and houses to be able to get property that they can sell for drug money."

Part of the problem has been the general perception that because Los Gatos does not have high incidence of violent crimes, it is a safe enough community that little precaution needs to be taken. Resident Betsy White found out the truth the hard way.

"About a year ago, our house was under construction and they hit our garage," she said. "Someone went in and just took everything. We're getting the new house wired with an alarm."

Seaman said that despite the police department's efforts to encourage people to prevent these crimes, they still occur frequently, most commonly in the downtown area.

"People are still leaving things visible in their cars, and there are valuable items being taken: cell phones, personal data assistants, laptops, briefcases, purses," he said. "Windows are being smashed or cars are being left unlocked on some of the side streets. We had a series of thefts in the Almond Grove area a year ago, and what we heard from some of the people who were responsible is that they can pretty reliably expect that some percentage of cars will be unlocked. So they'll just keep trying cars until they find one that's open."

Reducing the opportunity for break-ins and thefts is crucial in reducing the number of those crimes, Seaman said. People are advised to lock car doors and not leave any valuables in plain view. Homes, too, should be locked, he said.

While not nearly as prevalent, Los Gatos has seen a spike in robberies this year. In addition to the carjacking and bank robbery, there were five other robberies in the first three months of 2005 alone, compared with 11 in 2003 and three in 2004. While that does not necessarily mean that there will be even more this year, it is a significant concern.

Seaman said that in addition to simply being aware of their surroundings, people can take steps to reduce the risk of becoming victims of crime. One thing that has helped in some areas is for neighbors to get to know each other. Close-knit neighborhoods, especially those with neighborhood watch groups, have been successful in keeping residents aware of any crimes. Residents of Tait Avenue downtown, for example, have created an email list to keep each other abreast of local events, including crimes. Those crimes are in turn reported to the police if they haven't been already.

Another simple but often-overlooked step is calling the police directly to report suspicious activity.

"Call us when you see something suspicious--don't think that we don't want to know," Seaman said. "We have really benefited from people calling us on what they think is either mildly suspicious or perhaps even innocent. We would much rather have the opportunity to be pointed to something that doesn't seem normal."

Seaman advised programming the police department's number (408.354.8600) into cell phones so that emergency calls go directly to local dispatchers rather than to the California Highway Patrol.

The chief also advised being careful when heading out for a night at the town bars.

"It's important for people to be mindful of where they are," he said. "Becoming overly intoxicated or to be in a position where you're alone in a dark area, making yourself vulnerable to some attack or approach, is a bad practice."

Even knowing what crimes occur here, residents still say they feel safe in the town. Mountain resident Ray Perry said he shops downtown regularly. Though he locks his car doors "as a standard practice," he said he doesn't feel threatened in Los Gatos.

"My sense is that it is a pretty safe place," he said. "It's a family town."

However, with mail theft, drug use, robberies, assaults and more, Los Gatos is no Mayberry.

"There's a lot of pretty significant crime going on in this community," Seaman said. "It is not rampant by any means. I think this is a very safe community, but I don't want people to get an idyllic sense that there is no crime here, because there truly is crime of all types, up to and including homicide and some violent crimes. Although the levels are lower than in other communities, it's still something that we need to protect our community from."