There Are No "safe" Neighborhoods

[emmitt01]

Feel free to move this, it's not technically football related, but PLEASE leave the link from this board as this is where most will see it.

It appears crime hits everywhere, even close to police officer's homes. I walked out to get the mail today at around 1pm and saw two squad cars parked in front of my next door neighbor's house. Imagine my suprise. I had always thought the "L streets" were a pretty serene location. Seems someone kicked in the back door of their home just an hour prior. (Kinda wish they had chosen to hit just one house down...problem solved ) In all seriousness, here are a few tips from a letter I'm writing and distributing to my neighborhood. These guys hit in broad daylight, I can't risk it when Lera is home alone.

-Always be aware of your surroundings. If you are like me and often come home when it is dark be sure to take a look around your yard, porch, etc.

-Know your neighbors. Try to be aware of which vehicles and persons generally "belong" next door/across the street from you. If you're going out of town tell your neighbors so that they will know when there should be nobody at/near your home. I know we've all heard stories about "nosy neighbors." Guess what? Nosy neighbors help to solve crime.

-Keep your eyes open for suspicious vehicles. If you see a car parked in one of the alleys behind your home or driving around in circles in the neighborhood please call police. I know that we answer a lot of suspicious persons calls, most of which are fairly harmless, but the more eyes that are out there the better.

-Keep doors and windows locked. This sounds like simple common sense but surprisingly many people are lulled into a false sense of security and don't take this simple, vital step.

-If you own firearms keep them locked up. Again, this is common sense stuff but often in home burglaries firearms are taken. Aside from it being hazardous for homes with children, don't make it any easier for the bad guys to arm themselves.

-Use lighting to your advantage. If your front and back porches don't have lights (preferably motion lighting) think about this investment. Criminals don't like to work in the light.

-Investigate suspicious noises. Loud bangs or thuds from the house next door could be your neigbor building a deck...or it could be someone kicking in a door. Step outside and take a look (at a safe distance).

This is obviously not an exhaustive list but hopefully it's a few tips that might keep us all safe in our homes and belongings.

[BleedGreen64]

Thanks, Emmett

[FirefightnRick]

Thanks E.

Rick

[FireFightnJoey]

I have a marked take home truck with the FD. Last Thursday night, it was burglarized in front of my house shortly after midnight. It was parked on a busy street under a street light. Didn't matter. They only took the dash light bar that is mounted to the inside of the windshield with suction cups.

Two days later, another district officer had his take home broken into. They rummaged through his medical bag in the back seat and also took a camera. Probably looking for drugs of some sort.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Emmitt, Thanks for the great tips. I called just two days ago the Sherriff out to our neighborhood for a "suspicious" car sitting in a parking lot. Have no idea what they were doing.

By the way - do you know if the police ever solved that murder where the older lady went to the door when the doorbell rang, opened the door, and some person shot and killed her? I have never heard anything else about it.

[UNT_playmaker]

Thanks for the great tips Emmitt.

Emmitt didn't hit on this, but there is more and more crime incidents now than in years past. Now with talks of a current recession, making ends meet might be harder for some than for others and this in turn will result in more and more desperation type crimes. The local bingo hall in Denton was robbed by two gunmen this past week in front of patrons. Also watch the local news or Texas Cable News ( great informative channel) for a half hour and watch the types of stunts people do while commiting a crime.

I just installed a motion sensor on my garage not too long ago.

So look after yourselves and one another

[JayDub]

I live in a pretty nice area of St. George, Utah...a town that was at the very top of some insurance company study of America's safest cities or something like that last year. Unfortunately, this kind of crap happens in every neighborhood and in every town.

A few nights ago, around 6pm, my roommate heard our sliding back door open. He knew it wasn't me because I was in my room taking a nap...so he walked downstairs and peeked his head around the corner only to see a silhouette of a tall man in our kitchen. My roommate out here is a little nutty...ex-military and an avid sword collector...so he went quietly back to his room, grabbed a frickin' katana blade, and tiptoed back downstairs. He caught the guy in our living room and the guy, seeing a crazy man with a sword, ran out the back door, hopped the fence, and ran like hell.

Talking about it later, we were glad we were home and the guy now knows my roommate is a crazy man with swords. I'd be willing to bet the person that busted into our townhouse was a local meth junkie...seems like those are all over the place. Sadly, I think we're going to see more of this as the economy continues to tank and more people become, in their own minds, desperate to maintain certain aspects of their lives.