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MARQUETTE -- Can you believe the holiday shopping season is already here?

"Black Friday" is the busiest shopping day of the year, but before you hit the store shelves in search of stocking stuffers next Friday, the Marquette County Sheriff's Office has some advice about safe shopping.

"Black Friday last year, we had taken around five complaints where cars had been entered that were unsecured and gifts were stolen, merchandise was stolen, and we had a few not actual purse snatchings, but people removing items from purses that were left in a cart," said Captain David Lemire.

The Captain's advice:  ladies keep your purse on a short strap and as snug against your body as possible. 

Even still, the occasional robbery does occur.  Target in Marquette Township has taken precautions to prevent such Grinches from stealing Christmas.

"We want to minimize the amount of these instances in terms of safety or any type of theft occurrences from happening, so Target does focus a lot on deterrence and educating our team on behaviors to look for so that these type of instances do not happen," said Target Manager, Steven McCoy.

If they do happen, there's a good chance you'll get caught.

"We do have multiple cameras throughout the store and in our parking lot so that if something does occur, we can help out the local police departments and try and help them out in whatever we can," McCoy stated.

And while the store's cameras focus in on the bad guys, you are asked to report the robbery as soon as you can.

"Call 911 immediately.  Try to get a description of the person and/or vehicle if a vehicle's involved," Captain Lemire said.

In terms of parking lot security, the Captain says just be smart about it.  If your car has a trunk, place your valuables in the trunk.  If you have an SUV or a van with a cover in the back, use the cover.  Finally, and most importantly, the Captain says to lock your vehicle, because around the holidays, you never can be too safe.