During the winter holiday season, many families from other areas get in the holiday spirit by piling the kids in the car and driving up and down our streets admiring the twinkling lights and holiday decor festooning homes, yards and retail districts.
Unfortunately, there are others this time of year who drive our streets with other things in mind besides celebrating “the reason for the season.” These more nefarious denizens of the dark hope to get a closer look at your holiday trappings, and perhaps even take a few things home with them as a momento of their visit.
“Those Christmas trees are very beautiful sitting in the window, and you just know there are presents waiting underneath the tree,” said Tracee Keesee, Commander of Denver Police District 3, which covers a large part of the greater Washington Park area, east of Downing St.
“Those trees can be like a calling card,” Keesee acknowledged. “They are pretty, but you might consider placing them in a location less inviting to outsiders.”
As the holiday season approaches, District 3 is relatively calm by Commander Kessee’s assessment but, “It’s not that we’re totally crime-free,” she stated. Local residents will be glad to hear pattern burglaries that had been affecting a number of near-southeast neighborhoods in the past month have recently been resolved.
“Precinct 321 – which is Washington Park, Belcaro and Cory Merrill – and Precinct 323 – University, University Park and Wellshire – were busy for two to three weeks,” said Keesee. “In mid-November, we arrested two young men who admitted involvement in both precincts. We currently have them tied to eight (burglaries), and expect to connect them to more.”
Residents in the Washington Park East neighborhood were concerned earlier in November to hear that a home-invasion robbery had occurred in the 1000 block of S. Gilpin St., while the family was at home.
Keesee urges residents to use common sense measures to protect their proerty during the winter months. “First of all, folks need to keep their garage doors closed and locked, and remove valuables from their cars overnight. The bad guys are out there looking for laptops and other valuables.” She urges holiday shoppers to be sure and keep purchases out of view in a locked trunk rather than just heaped on the back seat for wandering eyes to focus on.
“With the cold weather coming in, we always worry about ‘puffers,’ as we call them,” said Keesee. “You know, people warming up their cars in the morning for criminals to take. You can see the exhaust puffing out in the cold weather, and there goes your car.”
District 4 Community Resource Officer Dean Christopherson echoed Keesee’s comments about seasonal crime patterns, underscoring the importance of “not leaving your car out there running. It takes these people (criminals) no time to break a window, even if the car is locked, and they’re gone with your vehicle.” Homeowners whose property backs onto an alley need to be extra vigilant as criminals can move more freely through the alleys, hidden from view while they check garages and back gates for easy access to your property.
(Editor’s note: As the Profile went to press, an unusual number of break-ins were being reported in the northern portions of District 4’s Platt Park neighborhood. Specific questions regarding this situation can be directed to District 4 by calling 720-913-2677.)
Meanwhile, residents wanting to be better informed as to crime in their neighborhoods have a number of resources available to them.
One new tool recently unveiled by the Denver Police Department is a crime-mapping website, updated daily, that provides information about crimes occurring within 500 feet of any address in the city.
A visit to www.denvergov.org/denver maps/crimemapping will allow residents to access a visual display of crime locations, as well as basic details of crimes committed in the areas around a particular address, intersection, park, school, library or statistical neighborhood.
For a more general statistical picture of crime in your community, go to www.denvergov.org, click on “Police, Fire and Safety” in the left column, then click on “Crime” at the top of the page. You’ll arrive at a page with links to crime statistics for 2006 and 2007, the Denver Sex Offender List and the Johns TV: Online Prostitution Report.
While not as dramatic or invasive as a home break-in or car theft, graffiti crimes are a drain on police manpower and personal and public dollars. Mayor John Hickenlooper, Councilwoman Judy Montero (Graffiti Task Force Co-Chair) and Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman recently announced that the City and County of Denver will participate in a test of newly developed graffiti surveillance technology that will help police detect and respond to graffiti crimes in a faster and more effective manner.
Law Enforcement Associates (LEA), the largest developer and manufacturer of undercover surveillance equipment in the country, will place eight hidden surveillance cameras in areas of frequent graffiti activity, that will not only capture the illegal activity on tape, but will notify law enforcement of crimes in progress.
This free test of LEA’s new system will include free training of Police Department personnel, as well as ongoing maintenance and 24-hour tech support.
“Denver spends close to $1 million each year on graffiti remediation,” said Mayor Hickenlooper. “It’s among the top concerns of our citizens. Our partnership with LEA is helping us leverage the latest technology to step up our anti-graffiti efforts.”
Whitman underscored the potential value of the new system, saying “The benefit of the Graffiti Cam is really two-fold. We are alerted to crimes as they’re happening so we can make arrests on the spot, but we also have video footage to help us identify the suspects in court.” Should the 30-day test prove successful, the units will be permanently transferred to the Denver Police Department.
For more information about crimes in your community, Denver residents can call (non-emergency) 720-913-2677 to be connected with the police district serving your address. All emergency contact should be directed to 911.
