JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - When disaster hits, there are some people who try to help others rebuild what was lost.
Then there are people who try to take advantage of the situation.
In Jackson County, Captain Scott Edwards from the Sheriffs Office said that the volume of crime calls increased about 20% after the hurricane.
"I think the biggest thing with people is that they didn't have their essentials: gas, water, some food, so your tensions were high of course" said Edwards.
With calls about crime up Captain Edwards said the majority of those calls are theft related.
"Peoples are going to be looking for opportunity here. Unlocked vehicles, houses being unlocked, slipping up to a persons house and stealing stuff from the exterior of the home."
If you are wondering how you can protect yourself from looters, unfortunately Edwards said, there is no perfect way.
"There is no really right way to prevent that. We are doing vigilant patrols. We have other agencies in here doing vigilant patrols, so we are getting help to try and prevent those things from happening, but again it's not 100%" said Edwards.
