In light of our village being the victim of four residential burglaries (three in the last week) I’d like to make some suggestions as your police chief. The locations of our burglaries have been the 8900 block of Monroe, the 3600 block of Arthur, the 3800 block of Harrison and, on Feb. 21, in the 4400 block of Deyo.
In each of the four incidents, homes were unoccupied for most of the day and residents came home to find either a window at the rear of the residence broken, or forced entry to a rear door.
The offenders appear to be targeting small valuables such as jewelry that they can easily carry out in a pillow case. In yesterday’s incident a handgun was also taken from the residence. Witnesses reported seeing two male Hispanics fleeing the scene of one of the burglaries around 11 a.m. in a gold-colored mid-2000s Jeep Grand Cherokee.
During a canvass of the neighborhood, many times officers speak to folks who report seeing something or someone who caught their attention by acting suspiciously, but they never thought to contact police.
I’ve preached the phrase “if you see something, say something,” which during times like this could not be a stronger message. Please keep an eye out for suspicious activity in and around your neighborhoods. If you see something that gets your attention that doesn’t look right … call the police!
We would much rather respond to what turns out to be nothing, than find out later that what you saw may have prevented a crime from occurring or helped us capture someone in the act.
Please don’t take matters into your own hands. The best thing you can do for us is try to get a good description of a suspect or vehicle. Clothing descriptions, and vehicle make, model, color and possible license plate can be the difference in solving a crime or not. In the meantime, rest assured that we are aggressively investigating these incidents.
Here’s a link to an informative website called A Comprehensive Guide to Securing your Home (www.safehome.org/resources/guide-securing-home). Here you will find some great tips on keeping yourself from being a victim of a burglary.
Thank you and keep safe and vigilant.
James L. Episcopo, police chief
Brookfield
