by Carolyn Seitz
cseitz@mindspring.com
On the first page below you can compare Altadena's Part I crime rates against all other areas serviced by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. You'll note that our Part I crime rates are 15.5% lower than they were in 2007, but 13.4% higher than they were last year when we were still experiencing a month to month decrease in crimes, especially burglaries and thefts/burglaries from vehicles over 2009 and 2010 reported crimes. Burglaries have generally increased over all of Southern California, and other parts of the country. One of the biggest increases in Part I crimes are robberies. You will have noted in the last few Crime Blotters distributed by the Sheriff's Station that the local grocery stores, drug stores and convenience stores have experienced robberies. In many of those instances, the "robber" was caught shortly after the crime was committed, thanks to quick notification to law enforcement that a robbery was in process or had just been committed and the quick action by the sheriff's deputies.
You find the breakdown of Part I crimes on the second page below and in the attachment. Robberies are up 50.3% over the same period of time last year. We continue to show a consistent rate for the number of rapes reported. The detective lieutenants at Altadena Station, and ours is now Lt. Michael White, continue to indicate that in almost every instance of rape reported, the rapist is reported to be known to the victim or the rape was committed as an act of domestic violence.
For those of you who haven't yet heard the news, a burglar was apprehended Wednesday morning, thanks to the vigilance of neighbors. Some of the local listservs included information being shared between neighbors about someone suspected of breaking into vehicles. The deputies and detectives at the Altadena Sheriff's Station have made many arrests of burglars over the last few months, and when we find news stories about Altadena residents who have been arrested in nearby cities, caught in the act of burglarizing homes or vehicles, we've reported that as well. New burglars continue to show up and the only way we can have an impact on them is to continue taking the following actions:
- When someone knocks on your door (the "knock-knock burglar") make your presence known, without opening the door so they know someone is at home. If your children are at home alone, ask them to do the same. Holler, "Can't come to the door right now", so the teams of burglars know you're in the house. Then call the Sheriff's Station at 626 798 1131.
- When someone knocks on your door (the "distraction burglar") and you open it to talk to them, they'll seem to have some really important thing to talk to you about, but they're just distracting you while someone else makes entry into your home to take your valuables. Consider not answering the door, but do the same as suggested above and holler "Can't come to the door right now" and then call the Sheriff's Station.
- Under either of these scenarios, you can also holler, "Can't come to the door. I'm calling the Sheriff Station and they'll come talk to you", and then call the Sheriff's Station.
- When you see suspicious behavior - a strange vehicle parked too long, or parked a few houses away when you see someone going door to door in your neighborhood -- call the Sheriff's Station and give them as much descriptive information as you have - tall short, male/female, stocky/skinny, hair color/length/bald - clothing type and color - but always gather info from a safe distance. The most important thing is to keep yourself and your family safe. If you can get vehicle info, that is always helpful as well - make, model color, type of vehicle, license plate, bumper stickers or other descriptive info. Call the Sheriff's Station at626 798 1131.
- If you're sitting in your rear yard or on your patio enjoying a nice cool beverage on a hot afternoon and you look up to see someone standing in your yard or walking across your yard, call the Sheriff's Station. Just because they tell you they were really hot and needed a drink of water, please don't buy that. They're in your yard looking for an easy way to gain access. You'll recall that a few years ago, it was teams of burglars, sometimes with small children or infants asking for help because their baby was choking or needed a drink, or they were lost and needed to call for help, or they just really, really, really needed to use your bathroom. Don't invite them into your home. 99.9% of the time, they're just there to take your stuff or to determine what "stuff" they can cart out of your bathroom cabinets or the other rooms in your home. Please call the Sheriff's Station and let that person know you'll get some help for them right away. In that case, HELP = shiny silver bracelets and the back seat of a radio car.
Don't be an easy target. Please call over any and everything. The Deputies will respond and they'll determine quickly whether someone has a legitimate reason to be in your neighborhood. The more we make it uncomfortable for these criminals, the easier it is to chase them away, or to catch them. Thank you for any time you've called the Sheriff's Station to report that odd, suspicious, unusual or out of the ordinary behavior in your neighborhood. It is making a difference.
As always, stay safe!
Crime stats are after the jump.
