BATON ROUGE - As the last weekend before Christmas is upon us, shoppers are headed out to the shops en masse, but with those droves of people comes an unsavory element in the form of extra crooks.

Stores throughout the Baton Rouge area are ramping up security protocol as the holidays bring out grinches looking to cash in on putting a damper on the holiday spirit.

Law enforcement is adding extra patrols with plenty of officers on hand at major shopping destinations like the Mall of Louisiana in order to shut down thefts and armed robberies. Officials say that’s the type of crime that always gets a boost around the holidays.

Law enforcement says they’re doing everything they can to fight crime this holiday season, but they advise the public that they can help by staying vigilant of their surroundings and reporting crime when they see it.