The City of Redmond has recently experienced an increase in residential burglaries. There were 24 in August, with an average of 10 per month in the last year, according to Redmond Police Department community outreach facilitator Jim Bove.
Almost all of the burglaries occurred during daylight hours, Bove stated.
On a positive note, several arrests have recently been made in Redmond or nearby jurisdictions because of “alert witnesses who did exactly what they should have done when they saw suspicious activity,” Bove said.
Redmond Police offer these tips for citizens who’ve witnessed suspicious activity:
1) Call 911 immediately. Let the dispatcher know which city you’re in and what you’re reporting. Give a good description of what the suspects are wearing, what direction they are traveling and what you saw.
If they are in a car, a license plate or even part of it is helpful. Stay calm.
If you are unsure of whether the situation was suspicious, “call anyway,” said Bove. “We’d much rather get a call and/or make a trip there and have it be a false alarm than to have missed deterring more crime. We’ll help you decide if it’s suspicious.”
2) Never put yourself in danger by following the suspects or letting them know you are following them. Especially, don’t tell them you are calling the police as they’re walking away — this gives them a head start.
Just concentrate on being a good witness. “Observe and report,” said Bove.
3) Many residential burglaries occur by individuals knocking on the front door. If someone answers, they may ask for someone who doesn’t live there, pretend that they accidentally knocked on the wrong door or try to sell something.
If nobody answers, they may go to the side or the back of the house and gain entry through unlocked doors or windows, or in some cases, they will shatter them.
Many times, they will cut the screens to gain access to the windows, so be sure to keep windows and doors locked at all times when you are not home.
If you don’t know the person, talk to them through the door. That way, they will know someone is home.
One ruse which has surfaced recently has been two females “looking for a lost cat.” This happened in the south end of the City of Redmond at least twice last week.
If an unknown person knocks on your door requesting help in finding a lost pet, politely tell them you haven’t seen the animal and then call 911 immediately.
“These people are usually not looking for confrontation, they are looking for empty homes,” Bove explained.
4) If you’re a victim of a burglary, call the police and report the crime immediately, even if nothing is stolen. Don’t enter your house if it looks as though it’s been burglarized.
“Let us come and make sure it’s empty, gather any evidence, etc.,” said Bove.
5) Most of the stolen property in these burglaries and similarly in car prowls consists of electronics and jewelry — video games, TVs, laptops, DVDs, anything that can be sold for quick cash.
6) If you haven’t already done so, be sure to record information from all your valuables, including serial numbers, make, model, etc.
For jewelry, take pictures of the jewelry and you wearing the jewelry.
“This allows us to link stolen property to specific burglaries and its rightful owner,” said Bove.
7) “We encourage you to know your neighbors and look out for one another,” Bove added.
If you are leaving your home for an extended period of time, inform a trusted neighbor and ask them to call 911 if they notice any unusual activity.
The city’s Neighborhood Watch program is a perfect opportunity to promote communication, organization and education about ways to prevent crime and keep your neighborhood safe.
“Unfortunately, as safe as our city is, we aren’t immune to crime — no city is,” said Bove. “This is why we encourage you to be aware and be safe and be prepared, which by the way, is different than being paranoid.”
To learn more about the City of Redmond’s Neighborhood Watch program, visit http://www.redmond.gov/insidecityhall/police/prevention/neighborhoodwatch.asp.
