A recent spike in home break-ins in a West Richmond neighbourhood has sparked action from a small, but vocal group of residents.
The general public is being invited to meet at Richmond City Hall Tuesday evening to discuss solutions to an apparent waning of the Block Watch program, organizer Graham Boyle told the Richmond News.
“We are hoping to get people out and encourage them to get on to Block Watch,” said Boyle, who says his neighbourhood has seen a rise in burglaries since October.
Richmond RCMP, who can lend tips to concerned residents, will attend the meeting from 7-9 p.m.
Boyle is part of the Block Watch in his area and hopes to have a critical mass attend to shed light on the issue. While he acknowledges Richmond’s residential crime rate is low relative to Metro Vancouver, he said the city could become a target if people let their guard down.
The longtime resident has these tips for residents:
There are many things we can do to help the RCMP:
1. Please report incidents. In my discussions with the RCMP they reminded me that they cannot put a crime map together that shows “hot spots” if we fail to report. As trivial as some of these incidents may seem, they are very important. Not only is that data useful, but if someone has just knocked on your door and fled, a reported incident may lead to the culprit being tracked by a police service dog.
2. Lights on! Many of our houses are in complete darkness and look unoccupied. You can leave lights on in the front area of your house, even if you are home but in the back area. Timers that turn lights on and off are also beneficial. About half the houses in this subdivision have dark alcoves or shrubs at the front door in which a suspect can step out of sight and has the benefit of darkness.
3. Look around. Most of us are very familiar with people and cars that belong in our subdivision on a daily basis and we should take particular note of any vehicles that are unusual. If you see a car that “doesn’t fit” write down the license plate number or take a photo on your phone. It would be great if we could give the police assistance by providing any investigative leads. Dog walkers please help!
4. Lock up. Make sure your vehicles are locked and better yet take your garage door opener into the house with you, especially if you are parking on your driveway or on the street. There have been several instances where a suspect used a garage opener from a car to get into a residence.
5. Driveway monitors. I have been using a driveway monitor, which I picked up at Harbour Freight Direct in Bellingham. In fact I think this device is what caused my prowler to take off. The sensor can be aimed at the driveway, or across the approach to a front door, or down the side of a house. When the beam is broken it sets off a warning tone similar to a doorbell. I had placed the receiver in a location where a prowler could hear that it was set off, and also where I could hear it triggered in my house. I wanted to prevent someone trying to break in in the first instance. The device is normally $30 but they are often on sale for much less. If you are going down to Bellingham consider picking up a couple for yourself and a couple for neighbours. These alert systems are great to detect car break-ins also. Simply put the sensor in the car and lock it up. If someone enters the car it will set off the receiver inside your house and you know someone is in your vehicle.
