The Observation Deck

Observers,

Today, sometime between 8 am and 5:30 pm, our house was broken into, ransacked, our laptop and digital camera stolen.

Just a warning to everyone to be vigilant, and keep track of valuable stuff-make note of serial numbers, etc. And don't be stupid, as we were, and leave things out where they can be seen from the outside.

Esther

It seems like a lot of crime has been happening lately.

Time to install that alarm system....

Not to be too nosy, but what street did this occur on? Helpful to know if an area is being looked at by folks.

Sorry for your loss, though.

Phil

We live on Larchmont.

my brother's house on Ethel was broken into in mid-December during late morning/early afternoon. They entered by breaking open a sliding door in the back. The thieves took his digital camera, his printer, some of my sister-in-laws jewelry, and a coffee can full of change (????). When he arrived home, my brother found luggage in his kitchen that had been taken from the attic - perhaps the thieves intended to stuff the suitcases with items, but got scared off before they could finish the job.

everyone be careful out there and keep your eyes out for suspicious ppl in your neighborhood!

John Guscott wrote: and a coffee can full of change (????).

John

Money is generally the easiest thing to turn into crack.

Seriously, this points to the need to form the kind of citizen groups that Mark, Ken, Dan, and others have been talking of for years. Some of this can be blamed on cold weather, but we really need to be our brothers keeper and report any suspicious activities.

Back to the door to door street surveyors, or sales people. If you see people acting strange, or even possible involved in a crime. Call the police. Far better to be safe than sorry.

Another problem we have noticed when talking about this is Observer meetings. Lakewood is like a sieve. There might be too many ways to get in and out of the city. Larchmont offers I-90, Riverside, Detroit, Hillard, South Marginal, as easy ways to get away. Also offers a host of other side streets etc. One thought was to shut down some streets at night. Or make some streets cul de sacs. Might not of helped with this but, might not be a bad idea.

.

Our business is in the same neighborhood and We were broken into last month. My question is what method did they use and what door or window was used. They tried to jam open a door and a window before they had success with another door. Two days later we had the alarm we had thought about getting for the past 2 years.

We also had a coffee can of mostly pennies and another container of change taken-how they got it out of there I have no idea. There was a pillowcase and LL Bean bag on the couch that they may have wanted to use, but did not.

They (he/she?) attempted to pry a back window open and were unsuccessful. They ended up breaking the window, and exited right out the front door.

I love the smell of freshly cut plywood in January.

This is how a lot of Clevelanders justify getting a pitbull.

http://maps.google.com makes it easier to find better places to rob.

Flashbacks of what was going on some years back on Cleveland's west side, close to Lakewood. The people asked to start a "citizen watch" and in a week's time it was going, with good neighbors watching after each other's homes etc, over a certain area using their cars and then CBs and a few trunk mounted cell phones to alert the police if they saw something.
It was organized, it was helpful, and while not "officially" recognized by CPD, there was a great rappor with the police officers.

Again, you might be able to see 2 yrs ago, my initial postings of such an entity on the Buzz, to help prevent these things from growing , within reason.

Why did the people who live in Cleveland ask for, and initiate a mobile watch group without any problem, and yet in our city, it's an idea that people want to squelch?

Btw, there are and have been many of these "watch groups" all through-out the greater Cleveland area, but not in the Wood.

It wont eradicate crime, but it sure can't hurt. Keywords- Eyes and Ears.

Esther-

I'm terribly sorry that this happened to you and your family. It's a terrible violation.

I heard the police chasing some suspects last night who seemed to be going around with some sort of pry bar.

All of us would like to see this sort of crime stopped.

Mark-

Block groups continue to be formed around town. Perhaps you need to start with your street and convince your neighbors to activate a watch. It seems like that is the more successful way to proceed.

I am not at all interested in being part of a larger watch group and I would guess that others feel the same way. Perhaps you should narrow your focus.

During July this past summer my next door neighbor had an attempted robbery in the middle of the night. A woman tried to go into their window that was left open on a hot night. They have two dogs who did not bark but something fell and made a loud crash so they woke up. People on crack will break in even when the homeowners are home which is really scary! Maybe the city could get some major discounts on multiple alarm systems for the resident! My fear is if the robber catches someone at home!

The immigrant families who pack as many people as they can into a house don't have these problems.

Alarms are certainly useful but here's a cheap man's way until such time as you can get one if your leaning that way. Assuming you have an automatic keyless entry for your car, keep your car keys on the night stand and you can use the panic/alarm button if you hear something during the night. It won't help if your home is burglarized while your away but it may very well chase away someone breaking into your home while in your in bed.

Stay safe.

The immigrant families who pack as many people as they can into a house don't have these problems.

how can the deck benefit from a comment like this?

What do you know about that? Have you walked in the shoes of an immigrant family?