[MobileNYer]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, but I've been reading and following old threads for quite a while. I've read through many jittery posts of people looking for the 'safe' (e.g., crime-free) areas, the 'best' (e.g., free and utterly perfect) public schools, and so forth. But as a reasonably urban person who grew up in New York, New England, abroad and has done short (summer) stints in L.A., I have to pose a question about the burglaries in Las Vegas.

I am strongly considering a move to Las Vegas, and friends already resident there, as well as realtors, have all pointed to either Summerlin or the Anthem/Green Valley area. The thing is, whenever I check out homes for rent within these areas, then check the LV police crime reports for the 1/4-mile to 1-mile radius....the results are bananas...and it doesn't seem to matter WHERE you are. 'Last 60-days' searches pretty much show burglaries in the 25 to 35 range, all times of the day, within a mile from wherever one might want to rent.

I do not want to invite everyone who's ever disliked LV to simply spew, in response. But I DO want to know if any LV residents can offer their view of why these burglaries seem to be so frequent.

1. Is the common wisdom that they're based on high numbers of empty/foreclosed/investment properties?
2. Are attempted burglaries counted in the burglary statistics?
3. What the devil is being stolen from all these homes?

In advance, thanks for weighing in to help a newbie understand the lay of the land. I will say that, for the areas I'm checking into, most of the other stats aren't too worrisome for a major city. Only the level of burglary (plus reports that the police are a lost cause) leaves me, as a work-at-home entrepreneur, scratching my head about how much of a problem burglaries actually are.

[5kingsinvegas]

I may need to find some wood to knock on here but we have been here almost three years and rarely lock our doors during the day when we are not home, mostly due to unreliable children who forget their keys!! To be perfectly honest, we did have our SUV stolen from our driveway in Aliante about a year ago which did unnerve us, being from a small town in Michigan. However, I would much rather have that happen then have someone actually in my house. I do know a few people who have had their homes burglarized but in both cases the people were caught and are now serving relatively lengthy jail sentences.

I really have never felt unsafe here, reasonable people who take normal precautions really have nothing to worry about. I have even progressed to letting my children walk to the park alone, which if you knew me would REALLY surprise you.

[olecapt]

If you go to...

Crime in Las Vegas

The second map shows the distribution of burglaries. It notes that burglaries are much more distributed. In fact it correlates pretty strongly with the density of neighborhoods rather than other crime.

A lot of that is because it is often a neighborhood teenager crime.

The green and yellow are all reasonable good. The spread across all those areas is less than 2:1..

[MobileNYer]

I've had a look at the maps for different types of crime, thanks olecapt. I see your point with the higher density-->rising crime. I guess what I am still wondering about is why this still takes place so often? I'd think alarm systems are pretty standard for most homes, don't people use them? 5kings mentions that he knows folks whose homes were burglarized; I'm sure the isolation of the suburbs makes more burglaries simply a fact of life, but as someone used to the density of a city like NY, it's something of a surprise...even assuming that most folks have semi-predictable hours when they're out of the house.

[MobileNYer]

Yeah, sorry haters, but if low moral fibre was the issue, NYC might also be overrun by home invasions. It isn't.

I know I won't get a feel for who's where and what's what until I spend a few days driving through neighborhoods (and maybe knock on a few doors), but I find it curious that the burglary stats are what they are, and meanwhile, some don't lock their doors and many seem to feel safe enough. Someone like me, I'm thinking, 'jeez, is leaving the kids at home with a babysitter for 2 hours while I go out for dinner' a bad move? The incidence rate and police maps make it seem as though the family could pack up and go to school/work in the morning, and a few minutes later, someone would be trying to break into the home (while I'm tapping away at my computer)! So I hope the numbers are misleading.

[Packrat1]

Buglaries can happen even in Gated Communities. As far as repo and empty homes they steal the appliances and sometime fixtures and metal. You use the term "Las Vegas" this is too general. You need to break it down by zip codes.

Henderson and Summerlin are good areas but even within them there are less desireable ones. One of the best ways to check out a community is go there in the late evening (in a safe car of course) you will be surprised how a community changes at night.


Additionally you need to keep your house safe where ever you live.
A monitored alarm system with siren inside the home is great. The inside home siren is earsplitting but worth it. Get remote access via a computer or cell then you can turn it on and off remotely. Keep your doors and windows locked and put dowels in the tracks of the sliders and windows to help thwart the jimmying of the doors.
The best eyes and ears are your neighbors. Get to know them and if comfortable give them your phone number if they see something suspicious tell them to call you ANYTIME even late at night.

Often burglars act like service people working and neighbors don't think anything about it. Both you and your neighbors should Call the police if you see something suspicious. If it's safe, jot down clothing descriptions and car descriptions if you see someone at the neighbors and you know they are not home. Then call police.

They don't have to be commiting a crime for you to call police. The idea is to deter them before they do something.

Always lock your cars and upgrade your veh alarm system. Car prowlers break the window of your factory alarmed car reach in and grab your stuff never setting the alarm off. You need a glass breakage sensor which triggers the alarm when they break the window which your factory car dealer can add inexpensively.

Just my opinion.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by MobileNYer

Yeah, sorry haters, but if low moral fibre was the issue, NYC might also be overrun by home invasions. It isn't.

I know I won't get a feel for who's where and what's what until I spend a few days driving through neighborhoods (and maybe knock on a few doors), but I find it curious that the burglary stats are what they are, and meanwhile, some don't lock their doors and many seem to feel safe enough. Someone like me, I'm thinking, 'jeez, is leaving the kids at home with a babysitter for 2 hours while I go out for dinner' a bad move? The incidence rate and police maps make it seem as though the family could pack up and go to school/work in the morning, and a few minutes later, someone would be trying to break into the home (while I'm tapping away at my computer)! So I hope the numbers are misleading.

What you appear to be missing is that Las Vegas is close to average in burglaries...NYC however is the best. NYC is about 25% or so of the national average while Las Vegas is just above it (85th out of 150 big cities). Henderson rates well below and is 38th out of the 150 big cities.


All the green and yellow areas are in the Henderson class.

[Kalbo]

I think burglaries here in Vegas are on par with any other major city. Be proactive to protect your home.

Most robbers want to be in and out as quick as they can, stealing easy to carry high value items.

Alarms can be good, but people forget to set them. Other problem is response times can be slow, burglars know how much time they have.

Easy to break a window or kick in a door protect those areas.

As for who is committing the crimes I can't speak to that, as I have yet to be a victim of any crime during my 8 years in Vegas.

[Kalbo]

Chalk one up to the good guys: ReviewJournal.com - News - Police say burglary suspect fatally shot by homeowner
Police say burglary suspect fatally shot by homeowner



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[MobileNYer]

Kalbo, Comeback...thank you. Both your responses make me feel like taking precautions will pay off in spades if you are consistent and conscientious about protecting your home. I was getting the feeling that all the burglaries were completely random, strangely frequent and "just one of those things" that happens often in LV. Now I feel as if they CAN happen, and DO happen, but generally in cases where perps seek out (and find) easy prey. Alarms, alertness and knowing the neighbors/neighborhood seems like the plan I will be following. No Beretta for me, but I would guess that many folks intent on cleaning out other people's homes aren't armed. (More assaults on record, if so). Hopefully it really is a matter of keeping an eye on who is in and out of the neighborhood, "working" in the community, and trying to access one's home.