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Monday, February 9, 2009
Suburbs aren’t immune to crime
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There was a time when people moved out to the suburbs to get away from crime. The cities were dens of iniquity and the ‘burbs were the place no one ever locked their door, folks watched out for each other, and the deer and the antelope played.
But, since the beginning of the year, we’ve read about the police making an arrest of what appeared to be a gambling operation in the Huntcliff subdivision. It wasn’t that long ago that a few miles north, in one of those really expensive neighborhoods, there was a thriving prostitution ring operating.
And of late our neighborhood association has alerted us that some cars have been broken into in our neighborhood. Any day now I expect to see Tony Soprano and Paulie Walnuts sipping their espresso outside one of the coffee places on Roswell Road.
Has crime moved to the suburbs? Is there nowhere safe to live?
The answers are crime comes as soon as the bad people realized they can do “business” — and no there is no place that is truly safe. That is, if you define safe as a 100 percent guarantee you will never risk being the victim of a crime.
So it gets down to two choices; live in fear or be vigilant and smart. The former might have some advantages go for it, though none I can see.
The latter seems like a smarter way to go. And it doesn’t require building a panic room in your house or buying an arsenal of handguns — though you’re free to do one or both. For me, I prefer following the advice of those who know.
First, and this is advice from the police, use common sense. Don’t leave anything in your car that might be worth stealing. That means your briefcase, mobile phone, laptop, mp3 player, GPS, etc. And lock your car every time you get out. If you think that’s over the top a friend said they had their car broken into and their gym bag stolen. All the thief got was some sweaty clothes, but the car owner had to deal with a broken window and an insurance claim.
The same applies to your house. It’d be great to think we don’t need to lock our doors, but this ain’t Mayberry. Make sure you have plenty of outdoor lighting so someone can’t sneak in and be aware of anything that looks out of place, like a car you don’t recognize repeatedly cruising the neighborhood. Our police department has a number of community outreach programs; use them.
And realize that things no matter what, crime will happen but we can’t give into fear.
On Valentine’s Day 15 years ago my son and I came home at night to find the back door smashed in. I backed out of the driveway and called the police. After an officer secured the house I found nothing had been taken. The insurance company sent a crew that night to temporarily secure the door.
I didn’t sleep well and thought of going to a motel but I knew I had to stay. It was my home.
My home.
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