Police Chief’s Courier Report

February 2010

            There has been great concern recently regarding crime in Willowick, specifically house burglaries and car break ins.  The police department hears quite regularly that the residents are not being informed.  In point of fact, if we tried to notify everyone in the City about every crime we would not have time to do anything else.  Also, some information cannot be released as it can jeopardize an investigation. 

            Facts:  in a 2 week period in early January, 4 house burglaries occurred, each in a different part of the city.  As I write this article in early February, we have not had one for 3 weeks.  Residents on the street where these occurred want updates.  Investigations can take weeks, or months and may never be solved for lack of evidence.  Our detectives meet regularly with detectives from other cities as burglars don’t care about jurisdictions.  As I write this article every other city in the surrounding areas have experienced an increase of theft crimes.  The burglars are eventually caught by someone so they will stop but a lack of physical evidence may mean that many cases will go unsolved.     

            Worrying about the other homes on the streets where the burglaries occurred is like closing the barn door after the horses have gone.  Burglars normally don’t return to those streets because they know the neighbors are on alert.  Also, burglars are non-confrontational criminals.  They target homes that are unoccupied so most occur in the daytime when people are at work or out shopping.  The way to stop burglars is to immediately call whenever you see something suspicious and not to wait until they are gone from the area.  Checking out suspicious persons is one of our best tools and can only be done if residents care enough to call the moment they see something that doesn’t look right for your neighborhood and you are the best judges of that. 

            On a final note, 10 cars were broken into one night in the middle of January.  Under cover of darkness, person(s) walked down High Tee and were most likely done in under an hour.  Ptl. Ryan Neibecker located a stolen vehicle 2 nights later and we believe that person was involved due to items he had in possession.  Although this person cannot be charged for the car break-ins,  he is being charged with 3 felonies from Ptl. Neibecker’s arrest. 

            To effectively solve crimes, we need and encourage the help of the residents.       

Michael T. Lazor, Chief of Police