Property crime increase for the Reid Park and Clanton Park neighborhoods (Charlotte: houses, living)

[VickiT]

In an email from today:

Residents of Westover,

There have been a series of recent property crimes in the Reid Park, Arbor Glen and Clanton Park Neighborhoods. In the past three weeks there have been 16 break-ins in these neighborhoods, with an additional five (5) in the immediate surrounding areas. Also, there have been eight (8) larceny from vehicles, and five (5) vehicle thefts during this same time period.

We have taken the following steps to address this problem:

We have a Detective working full time on this issue.

The Response Area 1 coordinators and Focused Mission Team have been assigned to work these areas during daytime hours.

Our Traffic Officer has been actively focusing on these neighborhoods, conducting License Checkpoints and running radar.

The first and fifth shift officers who work in Response Area 1 have been told to focus on patrolling your neighborhood.



We are asking that if anyone has any information about these recent crimes contact:

Burglaries: Detective Faulkner at 704-432-2442 or e-mail him at dfaulkner@cmpd.org.

Vehicle Break-ins: Detective Crosby at 704-432-2447 or e-mail him at Jcrosby@cmpd.org.



Also, I would like to encourage each of you to pay special attention to crime prevention techniques. These include:

Never leave your keys in your vehicle, even for “just a minute”.

Do not leave any valuables in your parked cars—a thief will gladly smash a window just for a handful of change.

Empty your glove box and center console of all items and leave them open so that anyone walking by will see that there is nothing of value to steal.

Record all the serial numbers of items you keep in your home and cars. Most importantly: GPS units, TVs, stereos, video consoles (Playstation and X-Box 360s), firearms, power tools, and other electronic items.

Remember to close your blinds! There is no need to advertise the fact that you are not home or that you have a new TV in your living room.

Install motion sensor controlled outdoor lighting.

Cut back all shrubs that block the view of windows from the road.

Install alarm systems. If a monitored system is not an option, there are numerous inexpensive systems on the market that are not monitored by an alarm company but will still sound alarms and alert neighbors. Of course it helps if you actually turn the system on….

If you have an alarm system on your house….advertise it. Post stickers on every door and window.

Observe your surroundings and be a “nosy neighbor”. Call 911 if you observe anyone acting suspiciously. Please try to give a detailed description to the 911 operator, as well as the vehicle tag number for suspicious cars.



Please do not respond to this e-mail. If you have further questions feel free to contact:

Community Coordinator--- Ofc. Chris Lyon 704-432-2442 CLyon@cmpd.org

Community Coordinator---Ofc. Chris Herron 704-432-2442 CHerron@cmpd.org

Response Area Commander--- Sgt Andy Harris 704-432-2442 Aharris@cmpd.org



Thank You,



Capt. “P”



Captain S. Pearsall,

Westover Division

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

[brokensky]

Thanx for posting this, Vicki! I hope the word will get around . . . that is just too much crime in a short period of time. Sounds like a group of thugs at work . . . hope they catch them. I worry about someone getting hurt by an intruder.

[VickiT]

I live in Madison Park and last week someone was knocking on my french doors in the den while I was watching tv at 1am....I freaked out! I don't remember ever being so scared. My husband was at work and for a second I thought maybe he came home and put his car in the back, but I never heard the gate open. I have a 6foot privacy fence surrounding the house so noone should be back there, exspecially at that time.
I called the police and it took them over 20 minutes to get here.
All I could think was that they could see me and I couldn't see them (I had the lights on inside and it was pitch black out b/c I didn't turn the flood lights on that night).

[brokensky]

Vicki - do you have window coverings? I know this is the pits . . . but I highly suggest you get some if you don't - and close things at nite, even at the back of the house.

I am into 18th C decor, and my preferred window treatment is NO window treatment that covers any of the glass. I love totally open windows, w/ perhaps only a valance at the top, or w/ curtains pulled to the side and kept stationery. However, I reluctantly have added plantation shutters and plantation blinds throughout the house, and every evening (again - w/ reluctance) close them all. In fact, during the day, I only keep things partially opened at the front of the house, wh/ does cut down on all that beautiful natural light, but . . . I have changed my habits b/c I don't want anyone peaking in.

I also have installed low-voltage outdoor lighting on all the decking - all around the rails, upper and lower deck. I have also installed lighting at the back of the property and around fencing. The low light means I can see far back into the yard. I like that. I highly recommend others do it, as it does make one feel more secure. If I ever start feeling a bit insecure, I just turn on all the flood lights.

That is sooooo unnerving . . . to hear noises around our houses that late at nite. These are the times I am glad I have firearms, wh/ of course, may or may not be something for others to consider. Waiting 20 mins. for PD when one is feeling insecure is NOT very reassuring. But flipping the flood lights w/ gun in hand . . . that makes me feel very in control of my environment. Again, that may not be the solution for others . . .

[VickiT]

I hate window coverings also, but when we put the fence up, I took the thicker ones off and left the sheers. I love natural light. We will be moving in the next 2 weeks so I think I will just leave the floods on at night.
I agree with your last paragraph also. I used to stay up and keep 'it' under my pillow on the couch, but I built a false sense of security around myself when we put up that fence and stopped doing that.
I stood guard outside of my kids bedrooms until my husband got home (before the police got there) in case someone was going to try to get in through a window or something, I was prepared....scared out of my mind, but ready.