Gone are the days of the Kirby vacuum salesman and the doorbell-ringing Avon lady.
Posts on neighborhood social media apps now regularly look upon the door-to-door salesperson with concern and even fear.
A resident in the west Flagstaff posted recently about two men selling window replacements in baseball caps. The poster was suspicious of the salespeople, who they said had no materials with them and did not look legitimate. The resident was concerned those salespeople might have nefarious intentions beyond promoting a service.
Sgt. Jerry Rintala, spokesperson for the Flagstaff Police Department (FPD), said he鈥檚 familiar with such concerns.
鈥淲e often get phone calls from people in neighborhoods when these individuals are in the neighborhoods walking around, selling whatever they鈥檙e selling, with the concern that they are casing their house,鈥� Rintala said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a conversation with a couple of detectives regarding these incidents, and we鈥檝e really never seen over the years that we鈥檝e dealt with a rash of burglaries either during or directly after these people are in the neighborhood. ... We haven鈥檛 seen a connection to actually show that it was this group or this behavior that led to it.鈥�
Rintala said based on his experience on the beat, most door-to-door sales pitches are either legitimate or connected with a scam. They鈥檙e seldom the precursor to a burglary.
鈥淪ome of the more popular ones are magazines -- which I鈥檒l even tell you I鈥檝e been a victim of that. I ordered a magazine from one of these individuals and never did get the magazine,鈥� he said.
To protect yourself from a scam, Rintala said, it鈥檚 important to ask good questions. Find out what company the person works for and what they are selling, and ask for contact information and an order form to keep. That way, research can be conducted later.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 something that has to be ordered right then and there, I鈥檇 be a little leery of it. If they want payment in a certain fashion, maybe with a gift card, that鈥檚 something to be leery of, because they鈥檙e hard to trace,鈥� Rintala said.
In order to sell items door to door, a business license is required within the City of Flagstaff. It鈥檚 not a bad idea, Rintala said, to ask about that, too.
鈥淚 have been involved as a patrol officer where I鈥檝e been dispatched and I do go contact these individuals and have conversations with them. They present that they either did or did not have a license. I explain the concerns of the reporting parties that are calling in. They explain what they鈥檙e doing in the neighborhood,鈥� he said.
Worries over strangers in a neighborhood can sprout up after a crime is committed in the neighborhood.
In the Switzer Mesa Neighborhood, for example, a series of homes were burgled in December. Concerned neighbors contacted Rintala, who organized a series of block watch meetings, all of which were canceled because of inclement weather.
Rintala said on the whole, residential burglaries in Flagstaff are relatively rare, and that police investigate patterns when they do arise.
He added it鈥檚 OK to call the police to report suspicious activity.
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