In response to a constituent's email to me about hearing about residential burglaries in the east side, I am posting Commander Lisa Lopez's response. I am also posting an illustration done by an alarm company in Maryland that pretty much sums it up about preventing residential burglaries:
The East Division has had an increase in residential burglary in 2011. The East Division has been diligently working on suppression efforts, as well as increasing community awareness. We have been assisted by volunteers, including Police Explorers and Search and Rescue, to distribute a flyer about residential burglary prevention and speak with residents about burglary trends in neighborhoods throughout East Division. We have also been sharing information about crime trends at community meetings and encouraging people to report suspicious behavior in their neighborhoods. Many great burglary-in-progress arrests have been made as a result of calls from the community about suspicious behavior.
In addition to Patrol Officers, we have an excellent team of Detectives who follow up on burglary incidents. Our investigations are multifaceted, involving surveillance, follow up on repeat offenders, and search warrants. We study trends within East Division, the entire city, and surrounding cities. The majority of residential burglaries in East Division occur during daytime hours, when many houses and apartments are empty. Over half of the residential burglaries in Long Beach occur to houses and apartments with open or unlocked doors and windows. This is one of our most important messages for the community - please keep residences secure.
Please call me if you would like to discuss this further. I am happy to attend community meetings.
Please know that I meet with Commander Lopez frequently and also receive updates via my Blackberry about what is occurring.You can also log onto www.Crimereports.com and enter your zip code to find out crimes that have been reported.
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