Stats detail increase in burglaries

The reports are up, but not dramatically

Statistics back up county authorities’ perception that more local burglaries are occurring this year — although the increase is not dramatic.

The Triplicate tabulated burglary reports taken by the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, Crescent City Police Department and Yurok Tribal Police from January through October.

There were 279 burglaries reported throughout Del Norte County during that period — 189 handled by the Sheriff’s Office.

For all of last year, there were 305 burglaries — 204 were handled by the Sheriff’s Office. Based on monthly averages, there were a total of 254 burglaries reported in Del Norte through October 2010, according to the state Department of Justice.

The term “burglary” actually refers to a gamut of crimes ranging from forging checks to residential break-ins. Statistics for actual break-ins could not be gleaned for this report due to the way crimes are entered into the law enforcement database systems.

The Sheriff’s Office has indicated burglaries have increased recently. In early November, Sheriff Dean Wilson wrote on his Facebook page, “We have had over eighty burglaries in the past few months.”

No increase has been detected by the Crescent City Police Department for the same period.

There were 20 burglaries reported to the Sheriff’s Office in October, 16 in September, 16 in August and 21 in July.

The burglaries have prompted two crime prevention town hall meetings that each drew more than 100 people, and a spike in calls made to authorities by concerned citizens reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhood.

The community’s involvement, coupled with six recent burglary-related arrests, seems to be stemming the tide of break-ins, Sheriff’s Office officials said this weeks.

“The number of burglaries has gone down significantly,” said Wilson, adding he doesn’t believe that all of the culprits have been arrested. “(Thieves) look for the easy marks, if you have people that are vigilant then the thieves aren’t going to be as likely to go into that neighborhood. I think the community has picked that up in the last couple of months.”

The recent reports of burglaries to the Sheriff’s Office aren’t the highest of the year, however. There were 30 reported burglaries in May and 28 in January.

The reason recent burglaries have created a concern for authorities is due to a seeming connection between some of the thieves.

“We may have 10 burglaries in a month, but they are (usually) not connected,” said Wilson.

Wilson and Commander Bill Steven warn citizens that the burglars seem to be a part of a group and carry out the same types of tactics when deciding which houses to target.

They seem to be working in male and female teams, Steven said.

The female will walk to a house and knock on the door to see if anyone is home. If someone does come to the door, then she will make up an excuse for being there, such as asking whether someone she knows lives there, Steven said.

“We would like the citizens to know if they feel they are a witness to these (actions) they should call us immediately,” said Steven.

Wilson suggested anyone who encounters a similar situation to snap photos of the people, whether it’s while they are standing at the doorway or walking away. Watching whether they get into a car and writing down its license plate also helps, he said.

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