Do You Know What's Going on in Your Neighborhood?
Last week I came home to a flier sitting on my doorstep. In the note my neighbor Roxanne explained that while she was in her living room, a man entered her apartment through the back door and attempted to burglarize her bedroom. Thankfully, Roxanne’s neighbor saw the man through a window, made some noise and thwarted the housebreaker from ransacking her place.
When I initially heard about this I was very scared. The only people that live on my street are families and stoner hippies and artists. I’ve never felt afraid or uneasy a day that I’ve lived here. To hear a story about a stranger breaking and entering into a home next to mine, all while the resident was there in the middle of the day no less, shocked me. How could this happen? I wanted to know more about the situation and what I could do to protect myself, so my roommate and I decided that we would attend the neighborhood watch meeting.
We walked over to Roxanne's place and were greeted by two policemen, officers Sam Salazar and Al Polehonki. While the neighbors began to trickle into the back yard, the men explained that yes, since our neighborhood is a target rich environment, burglaries were on the rise, but we all could do simple things to prevent getting burglarized.
Here are a couple of their suggestions:
1. Know your neighbors and make sure they know you. Collect phone numbers and emails, and connect a name with a face. If your neighbor sees an unfamiliar person creeping around your place, a red light is more likely to go off in their head and they'll know that person isn’t supposed to be there. Your neighbor can either call the police or even go up to the person and question their presence on the premises. It will throw off the intruder and ultimately stop a burglary.
2. Don’t leave valuables in your car or garage and if you do, lock the doors. It seems pretty common sense, but a lot of people don’t do it. In my neighborhood, residents primarily park on the street and sometimes leave iPods, cell phones and even laptops in their vehicles. In addition, homeowners leave their garage and back doors open, making it easy for thieves to enter and swipe valuables, like a TV or sports equipment. Residents think, “Oh, I’m not going to be gone for too long” or “No one is going to steal from me.” But they will and they do. Lock your doors and don’t leave the pricey items behind.
3. Don’t be hesitant to call the police. If your instinct is telling you that something isn’t right, go with it. The officers told us that if you call 911, it usually takes seven minutes for the police to arrive. Don’t think that that because you live in LA, where other more serious crimes often transpire, that they won’t come to your home. Just be patient and someone will come to help.
4. Inform yourself with the facts about neighborhood and see what/if crimes are up. Becoming aware is half the work and if you know what’s going on and what to look for, you can prevent crime from occurring.
If your car or house has never been broken into, then consider yourself lucky. In Los Angeles, these things tend to happen A LOT, but you don’t and shouldn’t have to be a victim. Following through with the suggestions listed above will not only make you a better resident, but also a better neighbor, and we all need one of those. You’d be surprised with who you’ll meet and the information that you can learn and share. Sometimes all we have is each other, so do your part and assemble a neighborhood meeting.
Photo by Sarah Ardalani