We got robbed today. And just as I was thinking we’d had a good track record (almost 7 years in this house/hood and no home invasion)! I feel disillusioned, depressed, mad, and just plain violated. I have always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, but suddenly, it’s hard to do that. It doesn’t help that I have been feeling weird the last week or so, like something was about to happen. I even told neighbors and coworkers about those people who’d been casing and robbing homes earlier in the year. Last week, for the first time ever, I asked my neighbor to keep an eye on the house when I saw someone acting “suspicious” in front of my house as I was leaving for work. I’ve never felt unsafe or vulnerable in this neighborhood. And then, I started feeling on edge recently and I am so sad to say it was for good reason.
Two days ago, I found a neighbor kid and his friend heading into our backyard through the side gate at 11:40pm at night, supposedly looking for a lost cat. I remembered what I’d read on this board about people knocking on doors to case homes, their scam about looking for a lost dog, and was less than fully accepting of their reason for being in my yard, but then one of the kids came back a few minutes later with a kitten in tow. So, I introduced myself and pretty much apologized for my reaction (“who are you and what are you doing here??”) instead of calling the cops. I don’t know if it was those same kids and probably will never know, but it seems the most obvious explanation. I think it’s pretty telling that whoever robbed us threw a rock really hard into the basement window closest to the side gate (despite its small size) rather than taking an easier approach.
The robbers took electronics, including our projector (the priciest item in our house) and our Xbox 360, and trashed the house in the process. I’m grateful our dogs weren’t harmed, but now I’m worried the robbers will be back for more or that we’ll be subject to identity theft. Papers were strewn about, including our tax returns. I don’t know if they took my passport or social security card or if those have just been misplaced. Likely the latter. They dumped my jewelry out of the cases, but I don’t own anything valuable, so it appears they took none of it. They did take our glass milk bottle full of change, but not the Euros we had lying around, so maybe it’s not the same robbers who were trolling the hood back in May…
The cops came after just twenty minutes or so. They listened to my story, wrote down what was stolen, and walked around the house with me and my husband. After I insisted they take prints, they did, but I wonder if anything will come of it.
Anyway, I just thought people should be on the lookout and be aware that whoever was doing the break-ins earlier in the year is probably out of jail and back on the prowl. The neighbors were home most of the day and said they didn’t notice anything strange, though whoever broke in did so on the other side of the house… By the way, we have dogs and that wasn’t much of a deterrent. The people who broke in gathered up baby gates and dumped both dog food and people food from the fridge (which they left open) onto the floor. I have no idea how long they were here, but I think they must have come earlier in the day because the ice in the freezer had melted quite a bit and some water had even pooled outside the open freezer door.
I’m exhausted. I don’t want to leave my house or my neighborhood, but it’s sad when neighbors who’ve been here even longer say they’re sick of it and are itching to leave. I know this could happen in any neighborhood, but I wonder if we’re setting ourselves up for more heartache by sticking around.
Update (at Rob’s request): I live near MLK and Union (yay, farmers’ market!), though that shouldn’t stop anyone from thinking that they won’t get hit if they’re not near here. I’m the first to admit that I used to think, “Oh, that’s not so near my house. I’m sorry to hear people are having problems over there, but at least I don’t have to worry about it.” I see now how ridiculous my attitude was.
I’m sorry to hear about your troubling and frustrating experience. Can you share, generally, where you live (e.g. nearest cross streets) to help folks who might live nearby be a little more aware? Also, is there anything you need?
We had a break-in attempt a couple of years ago and found that our alarm system definitely paid off. In our case, they popped one of doors with a crowbar and ran away immediately once the door sensor had tripped. Had they come in another way, the motion detector would have tripped very quickly. Hindsight, I know, but may be something to consider to give you more peace of mind in the future. For us, we had an alarm when we lived in other neighborhoods in the city so it is not just a CD thing for us – just an urban living comfort level thing…
hello,
I’m so sorry about your violation.
are you on the madrona moms list serve? there are a ton of people that have been broken into lately…in madrona and the cd. it seemed to be a group of teenagers that keep getting arrested and then out the next day b/c they are minors. I talked with a cop at safeway about it and he seemed very frustrated b/c the kids kept breaking into houses and then being let go by the justice system.
Hopefully they’ll catch the people that did this and I’m glad ya’ll weren’t hurt.
Anna
I was out of it all night and then all day… And then I come back here and the first post I see is about a stabbing and I remind myself that we’ll recover from this.
Rob and Anna – I’ve spoken with almost everyone on my block so far, but will be casting a wider net so that anyone who isn’t already aware of the situation will be. At the very least, I think people should have the East Precinct number handy in case they don’t already.
The alarm system is now on our to-do list. I had always thought alarms were superfluous because we’d never been targeted and didn’t really think anyone was at large in our immediate area. I mean, we’ve been brainless enough to leave our house or car doors unlocked more than once and have apparently been really lucky not to have had a snatch and grab incident any of those times. I had simply taken it as confirmation of how safe things are and that you really could just trust people.
I was shocked to learn from our neighbors that they’ve been hit too (some in years past, some just weeks ago, some multiple times)… And we’re just hearing about this now?? That’s why I went and talked to everyone I could get a hold of, just to remind everyone that we’ve got to watch each other’s backs, that this is home to all of us.
While talking to folks, we also heard about the two more recent incidents reported on the Madrona Moms listserve where breakins happened _with residents at home_!!! I don’t have high hopes that they’ll catch the people who did this or recover any of our stolen property, though I am definitely on the hunt for it all in the likeliest places. I mean, does anyone who’s been robbed ever get their stuff back??? Today, I’ve just been reminding myself how lucky we were that the dogs weren’t hurt and am hoping against all hope that the robbers don’t come back for anything they might have wanted but didn’t have the time to take.
Steve – Thanks for taking the time post these tips. I hope you are able to employ them successfully wherever it is that you live because I know of too many people for whom these tips didn’t work, not even numbers 4 or 5, if you can believe it!
We are in Capitol Hill and 3 neighbors on my street have been robbed in the past month. Some of these kids that robbed my neighbor were actually caught and arrested (linked fingerprints) but they are probably free now. The group that robbed my neighbor are minors, little black kids that look 16 or 17, and they all live in the CD on 17th and Main with their grandmother. You should have SPD come speak to everyone on your block about forming a neighborhood block watch. I am shocked at how many people around here still aren’t aware of the robberies going on, even people on our block. Its the same group of kids and their friends and they are hitting multiple neighborhoods.
Whats with removing posts that question status quo? This is why the crime problem will never be addressed in the C.D.
I think the little old lady who “doesn’t really know what’s going on” is a bit more aware of the situation than she lets on. I’d like SPD to tell her straight up that the next time the kids rob somebody she’s going to jail. Fuck this, if the minors don’t go, the parents should. just like when minors drink booze at a home and then go out and get in trouble, the parents are at risk of prosecution.
I’ve heard of several incidents recently in my neighborhood and one nearby that sounds like the same kids/grandmother. And I keep hearing that SPD can’t do searches of their home or any punishment because they are minors. They seem to be untouchable. One of these included an assault because the resident was home at the time of the assault.
Does somebody have any real info from SPD about what gives with this? Maybe we can get Mike Y to speak to us about this too (there was a previous suggestion to have him help us with another matter.
Correction to typo in the post I just made – end of first paragraph should read “at the time of the break-in,” not “at the time of the assault.”
I deleted a comment that:
1. Was racially offensive
2. Encouraged people to be dishonest in their reporting of crimes (that is a felony) in order to get a quicker police response
Scott-
The crack addict’s, prostitutes and criminals that brazenly sell drugs in the CD and break into people houses are felon’s and they operate with no fear because the police’s rules of engagement have been neutered by stupid policies such as not allowing racial profilling. The only way to take the neighborhood back from the low lifes is to beat them at there own game, saying you saw litle white baggies is a harmless way of getting action and solving the problem. Pointing out he obvious fact of who the criminals are in the CD is not racially offensive its just the honest plain and simple truth. I understand if you have some white guilt and want to be politically correct but in doing so you are contributing to the problem not helping to solve it. If you want an open exchange of idea’s on this site then I suggest you do not delete comments that fit into your narrow box of how the world works.
Scott’s response was correct. A false report, which is a felony, solves nothing and wastes resources. A smearing a whole group of people because of the actions of some creates many problems and solves none.
The system is not working, but the solutions presented in the deleted comment would not help. We do need to find out why known offenders are not brought to justice. We need a discussion with SPD about this, and if the problem is elsewhere (courts? prosecuting attorneys?), we need to address that.
My info from the victims of more than one of these break-ins is that the grandmother is in a wheelchair and is trying to care for seven children. These situations are often a lot more complex than they appear on the surface.
That said, as previously mentioned, there has to be a better approach to this ongoing set of problems. We need discussion with official contacts who can explain the police/court response (or lack of response) to these crimes.
Hey Swindled,
Just wanna say sorry to hear what happened to you and your family. It must feel awful. Sending good vibes from the neighborhood.
After just 10months in the CD, one stolen car and two break-in attempts (by those same pesky kids) I’m outa here. I will miss my amazing landlords, fun farmers market and great neighbors. An organized community watch program needs to be enacted, this is just too nice of an area to suffer so badly from crime. Thanks for all the memories.
Sorry to hear about your break-in. This happened to us years ago in Seward Park, during a rash of break-ins in that area. Thankfully, the group involved was finally caught. After the break-in I remembered that two strangers, looking fairly strung out, had come to my door a week before, asking if “mary lived there.” I said no from behind the closed locked door and waited for them to walk away. After the break-in, I realize they had been casing the house even then.
Along these lines, I wanted to add that several posts on Madrona Moms suggested that if you believe you’ve just seen suspicious behavior in your neighbor’s yard, or in your own, that you should call the police at that time as well. The police who responded in Madrona to these calls, thanked the residents. The going thought is that it sends the message to these kids that they are being watched and people are paying attention. Still – – I still can not wrap my mind around the SPD’s inability to bring charges and create consequences for these kids. I don’t get it… at a community level and at a legal level it doesn’t compute.
I’d have to agree with anonymous.
As a matter of fact, I’ve pretty had a police officer ‘coach me’ to say that I saw a clear baggie with white crystals change hands next time I call in a crack deal. Apparently that’s the threshold they need in order to be able to search the person, otherwise they can’t do anything except talk.
I’m sorry, but it is near impossible to actually see the merchandise transfer hands, they very well know what the rules are. But if I see two guys walk by, shake hands while looking around, one starts walking away, and the other starts smoking crack, I damn well am going to say I saw a deal go down, full on with some manufactured details if it helps rid them.
I have to agree with the sentiment of Anon, some of the overly-PC crowd are just fooling themselves. You are fighting against criminals who follow no rules, and the bar is set VERY high for the police to search or apprehend the bad guys. Stretching the truth when you positively see a deal go down is leveling the play field in my book.
I called 911 today on two guys smoking crack in front of my place after a deal went down. They were CLEARLY doing it. 10 minutes later the squad car pulls up, asks them if they are smoking dope. They deny it and start walking. The cop from his car says someone called in saying they are smoking. They deny it again, say they live around the corner etc.. That was it, the squad car kept going. Yay, maybe I got them off my front steps, but they’ll be back tomorrow or the next day.
Saw the same two (quite high still) on 22nd and Union later in the day..
Contact Mike Yasutake ([email protected] ) the SPD East Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator and he’ll help you get a Blockwatch started.
Tienney Milnor ([email protected]), the Assistant City Attorney assigned to the East Precinct, would be a good resource for the legal issues being raised in this discussion.
Another good way to share this public safety information is via the East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition ( http://www.sngi.org/epcpc/epcpc.html ). Sita DeGiulio Das ( [email protected] ) can put you on the mailing list.
Hey gang,
I thought I would let all of you know about the news story that will
be aired tonight on Komo 4 during their 5:00 and 6:00 broadcasts. We
had 2 break-ins in the area this morning and a neighbor called the
news. They showed up and interviewed a few people and they decided to
air the story. I think it will be live at 5:00 and they will
rebroadcast at 6:00.
I don’t know if it will help change things but some additional
attention might benefit the ‘hood.
No news is good news, right?
Here’s the link to the story on the break-ins:
http://www.komonews.com/news/23999329.html
Thanks to Madrona Moms for the heads-up.
Great news … the article on KOMO not only led the five and six o’clock news. Hopefully this will help draw attention to the central district robberies and get some police activity back in the neighborhood. I think having patrol calls come by without someone having to call 911 would be a good start … the brazen youth are likely aware that the lack of a routine police presence makes their robberies that much easier.
Unfortunately, I just got word that one of the neighbors in our part of the Judkins Park neighborhood (bounded by 23rd/MLK and Dearborn/S. Irving) had a break-in burglary at about 4AM on July 3rd. She was in the house asleep at the time. When she finally woke to some sounds, she dialed 911 and they took off (I suppose after hearing her on the phone). They came in through a ground floor side window, turned on the lights, moved through the rooms, emptied drawers and took computers.
The neighbor was not harmed and did not come into contact with the robbers. Likewise, the police did not get sight of them.
You can start by refering to where we live as a NEIGHBORHOOD not a “hood”.
We had a neighbor burgelerd at 4 am on the 5th of july on Davis Pl. S.. He found out by the police rousting him out of bed. apparently they cough the same kids entering another house, found some lap tops on one, checked the lap tops and found his name and came by his house. He had been asleep the through the burglery and did not know he had been broken into until the police woke him up to return the stolen goods! Whet luck!!!!
Is that what you are thinking?
I don’t think anyone’s claiming that, however there is very clearly a “crime spree” in the CD recently, so it’s newsworthy.
I didn’t see the KOMO broadcast, but I hope they mentioned on air that the people responsible for many (most?) of these burglaries are being caught and released by the cops.
There are break-ins and car thefts all over the city, north and south. But this is clearly a “spree” and should be dealt with more aggressively by the SPD.
I don’t think it’s fair to say the Seattle PD isn’t taking this seriously. I think they’re as frustated as we are with a system that keeps releasing these repeat offenders. Every time we’ve contacted the police for drug deals or suspect behavior in our neighborhood they have responded promptly and appropriately. The officers in our neighborhood have told us to call in whatever we see that looks suspicious, the more calls they get to an area, the more officers that get assigned to that area.
I am so so sorry to hear about the crime that was committed against you.
I can’t begin to understand the awful feeling of violation.
Thank you for writing about it, though.
I have spoken with all of my neighbors, and we have a pact….ANYONE in their back yards we haven’t been warned of will have the police called on them. Everyone agrees. We will all look out for each other.
Thank you, and please DON’T LEAVE!!!! What would we do with out you???
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008038575_b
So, here’s a brazen question: who here carries a licensed firearm in their household? I say this not as a means to promote wanton violence (shooting is a LAST resort, especially when the culprits have been mostly youths), but I would wager that an armed citizen would deter a few burglars. These criminals are getting bolder each day, breaking into occupied households and such (which a more “sophisticated” burglar, for lack of a better word, would likely make sure the house were unoccupied). Further, while many suspect that only teens are breaking into homes, I bet there are just as many adults casing and breaking into homes, most likely to fund his/her next drug fix. In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before we hear about a burglary that involves violence.
In addition, it is incontestable that the gang activity in the CD has exponentially increased. Perhaps this explains the increase in burglaries/robberies/drug activity?
Off course the criminals are getting more brazen and they will continue to do so in a city where the police cannot racially profile. I’ve seen it again and again with my own eye’s, (african american’s) dealing drugs out in the open with no fear of the police. They are so brazen that they will do deal’s with the cops in plain sight. I’ve had the crack heads in my yard, defecating in my basement, breaking into mine and my neighbors cars the list goes on and on. The problem is the stupid police policies that are created by the stupid voters of this city. This problem could be permanently cleaned up forever if they would have a little reason and accept that the people who look like drug dealers are dealers and simply arrest them. Off course in this liberal city of process everyone thinks that these comments are racist not common sensical. Okay, all of you who think that these comments are racist and wrong no problem go ahead and keep getting your cars and houses broken into. When of when will you get that the problem is us and the problem is the way we all think? Nothing has changed in the past 20 years in the C.D. and nothing ever will until the law abiding citizens change how they think and learn to differentiate between white guilt and towing the liberal party line. This problem is easily solved…
I’ve never cared to own a firearm in my life, but am on the verge of acquiring one. Mostly because I don’t feel safe going out telling people to get off my lawn in the middle of the night without a concealed weapon in case something goes awry.
As a lifelong liberal and being pretty anti-gun, it is fascinating to explore the gun culture a bit. One thing is sure, is that your point that if everyone was armed (instead of just the criminals) we might live in a safer society very well might be true.
I certainly hope to never have to take my gun out, much less use it, but with the stuff I’ve seen the past few months I want the insurance.
Someone on Madrona Moms let us know that there is an article on the break-ins in today’s Seattle Times. Here is the link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008038575_b
Whoops, I didn’t see that someone already linked this! I don’t see a “delete” option, so here it stays for now….
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattle911/archives/14279
One good suggestion:
Posted by unregistered user at 7/7/08 8:46 p.m.
Now, when the vacation time is coming I took an extra step to make my home, and not only car secure. I have purchased a CD with burglar deterrent sounds, which I play every day in my apartment when I leave it for work. And I will play it non stop when I go on vacation. The sound quality is OK, nothing spectacular, but since you are listening to it through the closed door, it works great. Web site is: http://www.DeterrentSounds.com. Another good site is http://www.audioguard.com.
My house, and all of my neighbors’ homes, were viciously robbed nearly two years ago near 23rd and Madison. The burglar(s) came in through ground level windows. Thankfully I was not there. I lost nearly $5000 worth of personal items including every piece of jewelry I owned. At the time, none of the houses had burglar alarms.
To help prevent this from recurring, I installed an alarm with motion sensors and glass break detectors. All windows, regardless of size, are alarmed. Additionally, I made the bottom floor window un-openable with the help of Sound Glass. There’s a bolt preventing it from sliding and screw to prevent it from being popped out of the vinyl frame (how they got in last time). Lastly, there’s a large wooden pole bracing the whole window.
I leave my radio on talk radio when not home. I have a stay-at-home neighbor who watches all our houses all day, every day. I notify my Security Company when I am out of town. I stop newspapers and have a house sitter rotate shades and lights.
The fact these kids are coming in when people are home scares me. I don’t own a gun, but I do have a really loud panic button that will dial the police immediately. My nightmares and sleepless nights are sure to return. I hope this ends soon.
I think it has something to do with the Constitution, not liberal Seattle voters. Maybe we should call up Madison and see what he thinks…
My comment about gun ownership was not meant to invoke bantering between the “liberals” and “conservatives.” Myself, I’m NOT an advocate of racial profiling at all, and believe that the problem stems from, among other things, 1) socio-economic status (being poor), 2) broken family lives, 3) a lack of education, and 4) ass-backwards priorities (burglary v. college) perpetuated by the aforementioned factors. Unfortunately, this applies to under-represented minorities at staggering rates. Just look at the census information regarding median income and education levels here in the city. Seattle is the most highly educated city in the country, but have you seen the college/community college entrance rates for African Americans/Latinos? I’m not even going to get into the high school drop-out rates of African Americans/Latinos (e.g. Rainier Beach High School).
Of course, while I empathize with the situation (I’m studying criminal and have a degree in Critical Race Theory), I still believe that a firearm, when stored/used responsibly, is a great deterrent/defense for crime. Burglars/robbers prey on the unarmed, or who they perceive to be unarmed. If they break into my home and I’m there, the barrel of my rifle pointed in their direction will either make them run or give me enough time to call the police and have them apprehended.
As a self-proclaimed moderate/liberal, what motivated me to purchase a firearm? The answer: my girlfriend and I being literally chased down our street by some crack-head screaming obscenities and threatening us with violence. If we had gotten to our door 30 seconds later, we more than likely would have been assaulted and mugged. This occurred last year on 23rd and Madison.
I’ve been in Seattle for 6 years and have spent all of them living in the CD and it’s been an exercise in conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I love my house and its central (haha) location. We have some nice neighbors and there are many other qualities that make this a great place to live. On the other hand, I’m sad to say that living here has made me a more bitter and hateful person. I’ve dealt with an abandoned house on my street that has become a magnet for crackheads all day and night, a slumlord apartment building without enough trash cans resulting in ridiculous amounts of disgusting trash strewn up and down the street (with the apartment residents seemingly not caring in the least), dumped stoves and mattresses and anything you can think of, a shooting on my block, a situation on my block where the police had to call in a hostage negotiator with a sniper rifle trained on the building because someone they were after wouldn’t come out of the building (on a night when I was having a party so all of my friends had to get a police escort to my door), having my car broken into, people coming to my door with elaborate stories requesting money, a hit and run leaving my car dented…and the list goes on. Thankfully no one has broken into my home, but that’s just pure luck of the draw. I’m at the point where I just can’t help but think: I took on a quarter of a million dollar mortgage for the privilege to live around this shit?! I must be crazy. And I’m sad to say, too, that it’s made me completely hateful of the people who perpetrate this stuff – living here has made me lose any liberal sympathy for people who choose to live their life in a way that makes the world a worse place. I know the crackheads are beyond reason, so it’s more the people who aren’t high that baffle me. Like you are able to maintain a job and pay rent, but you don’t care that your trash is spread around the front yard and up and down the block? Do you really have no respect for your home and neighborhood? It’s just a completely different value system. When I moved in, I thought things would get better, but it’s really only gotten worse. When I look at my block these days, I have a burning rage the likes of which I’m surprised to find myself capable of. I chose to live here, to be one of the gentrifying yuppies, and so it’s ultimately down to me that I’m in this situation, but I’m so over it. Early next year, we’re planning on selling and moving on to a different neighborhood. There are many great things about the CD which I haven’t gone into at all here, but the bad things have just worn me down to the point where it outweighs any of the upside.
About 3 years ago we were broken into. Some guy kicked in our back door and grabbed my wallet and cell before taking off. We have an alarm. It was on, and going off. The guy was gone before I could even get down the stairs (it was about 2am)
It was stupid to leave anything in plain sight, but as this recent spree shows, if your house isn’t a meth-lab (or maybe even if it is), it’ll look like it has nice enough stuff to break into. We’re more careful now, but we’ve had other stuff happen – like when some vandals smashed our car windows with big rocks recently (didn’t even take anything – just cost us money for the repair), or keyed my wife’s car.
What are we supposed to do? Be like New Yorkers in the 70s and 80s and have three deadbolts and chains across every door? Put bars on the single pane and easy to break picture windows outside our 100-year-old houses? Move to Issaquah?
I’m glad I live in the “nicer” section of Cap Hill/Montlake, b/c at least I’m not surrounded by too many unmaintained homes (don’t have the stomach for “true” gentrification), but this kind of crime is just something you have to periodically put up with while hoping it’s getting better.
In most cases the robberies are either happening when people aren’t home, or are over so fast you’d have no time to go get your gun (assuming you’re not carrying it loaded with you at all times and awake 24×7). I think this particular situation’s facts are pretty indicative that more policing and longer sentences for the criminals when caught is probably more likely to fix things than increased gun ownership.
You’re studying criminal science, and don’t know that about 1% of shootings are in self-defense? The overwhelming majority of shootings are suicide or homicide (typically against the gun-owner or a family member).
I say this because I’ve thought about buying a gun, but using it to defend one’s self is a fantasy. It just doesn’t happen.
1998:
Women who used a handgun to kill in self-defense: 12
Women who were murdered by a handgun: 1,209
Most shootings occur between people who know each other (domestic violence) and not against strangers.
According to the AP, more than 50% of fatal shootings in 2005 were suicides.
These studies don’t track the number of people “scared off by having a gun waved in their face” but I doubt that’s a large number.
I was gung-ho to buy a gun, but it just doesn’t pencil out.
I just bought here last year! Don’t go!! :-) We’ve got to stick together!
Seriously, though, you describe my state of mind perfectly. I still have hope the neighborhood will improve. It’s certainly happening on the fringes; just look at Madison (and soon Union and maybe some day, Cherry). It’s ugly corporate improvement, but it’s improvement.
Edit: thought I replied to “Honestly” but it was appended down here. When will the site support a) Deletion of commetns and b) replies nested more than one level deep?!
Please, see my other post under the “Proactive Armed-Burglary Thread” for clarification. I mentioned the suicide rates, and I’m well aware of the domestic violence concerns. Common sense and responsibility play a vital role in determining whether the use of a gun is for you and your family.
My main argument revolved around the use of a firearm for deterrence. You state: “These studies don’t track the number of people “scared off by having a gun waved in their face” but I doubt that’s a large number.” This is pure speculation and is entirely unsubstantiated.
And try using an objective source for your statistics, rather than one that is politically motivated (VPC). A quick google search would list a plethora of NRA cited studies that would completely contradict that article. Here is an example: http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcdgeff.html . However, while this website is slanted to support the pro-gun agenda, many if not most of the studies are neutral and I suggest anyone interested in gun ownership research the studies themselves to reach an objective understanding devoid of politics.
Many burglaries, sure, but not all. This discussion has involved into a general discourse about all of the burglaries occurring in the CD. And there has been an increase in break-ins while residents have been home. Gun ownership is not the only solution, nor is it even a primary one. Longer sentencing and increased police presence will of course fix things more effectively than gun ownership. However, considering the increase in gang activity, drug activity, robberies, burglaries, and crime in general, when do you expect those changes to be implemented? From my understanding of the history of the CD, when has there been proactive, long-term solutions to the crime? The increased police presence is only temporary, spurred mostly by the media reaction regarding the unfortunate and extremely sad death of Dejene Berecha, the owner of the Philly Cheesesteak restaurant. Things will eventually return to the status quo. What then?
Please be clear about the important differences between burglary and robbery.
Robbery involves force, threats or intimidation. It is committed in the presence of the victim–like a “stick up”, or holding someone hostage while stealing from them.
Burglary is breaking and entering. I think most of these instances are actually burglary, not robbery which is a much scarier, more violent form of theft.
We had a recent incident in our neighborhood (between Thomas and Harrison on 24th ave e): young men with an off leash pit bull in someone’s yard. When the neighbor asked them what they were doing, they said they were sorry, they were trying to get their pit bull who ran away. Then they quickly ran down the stairs of his front yard and made off.
I hate what’s happening to this neighborhood (again) but saying you saw baggies when you didn’t is lying and lying in a teeny tiny way puts you in the same mindset as the idiots with the alleged baggies.