Maureen Hetrick
404-609-9873
maureenfh@mindspring.com
Crime is frequently on the minds of all Atlanta residents lately, and Berkeley Park is no exception. For those who have been following this saga over the last year, this is not new information. For those who have not, here are a few tips to help protect yourself.
Today's thieves are most interested in items they can sell quickly (eBay and Craigslist are often filled with listings of stolen items). This includes portable electronics such as flat screen television sets, laptop computers, and new video game systems. If you own any of these things and they are ever visible from the street or through a window, you are a likely target for these criminals.
Automated security systems do not seem to be much of a deterrent to these burglars. They can be in and out of your house in 2 minutes, much faster than the police can arrive.
This advice applies to your vehicle as well. Never leave anything of value (or even perceived value) in your car. This includes laptops, purses, backpacks, shopping bags, electronics, clothing or even an empty briefcase. Thieves don't have anything to lose by breaking a window to see if that shopping bag has anything in it to interest them, and you may end up with a broken window. One of the most common crimes reported on our weekly crime watch notification is a laptop stolen from a car.
Do not give any indication to the outside world that you may have made an expensive purchase recently. Any boxes advertising your new flat screen television should be broken down and placed either inside the garbage can or taken to a recycling center (there is one just off Northside Drive).
Once you have had a burglary, the thieves may assume that you will replace your missing items, and may try to break in again. Unfortunately, several neighbors who have suffered burglaries have been revisited a few weeks later.
Often, these burglars are using pedestrians as lookouts to assess which homes are the best targets for a break-in. If you see someone walking in the neighborhood who you do not know, call 911 and ask the police to check it out. Many times, that person walking around the neighborhood talking on a cell phone is also peering in windows or just sizing up the situation from the street, and notifying his accomplices about where to go.
Door-to-door solicitation is illegal without a permit, and very few permits are actually issued in Atlanta. Anyone selling anything door-to-door should be asked to leave, and the police should be called. Sometimes the person selling magazines is really trying to see inside your house to determine what you may have to steal.
Anytime you see anything that seems not quite right to you, call 911. This is what the police recommend, and it can let criminals know that we are on the lookout. If you talked to your neighbor last week and she didn't say anything about moving soon, call the police if you see a moving van in front of her house when she's usually at work.
Berkeley Park is currently exploring the possibility of hiring a private security firm to patrol our streets. We can't do this without your help. Getting involved with the BPNA will give you a chance to learn more about how to protect yourself and your property. Come to our next meeting, join our email list, or join the Crime Watch committee to find out what you can do to make Berkeley Park safer.