Crime in Carbondale

5 teens attacked a man and woman on West Cherry St. this past weekend.. Asked for change for a bill and then attacked, knocking the man to the ground.

According to Neighborhood Watch, Carbondale is not a particularly safe city. The crime rate is slightly higher than Illinois as a whole and the site ranks Cdale at 9%, meaning that it considers 91% of cities safer than Carbondale is.

Neighborhood Watch Meeting

The Police Department will have a meeting to talk more about the Neighborhood Watch program on Tuesday October 1 at the Civic Center.  If I recall rightly, Carbondale had a Neighborhood Watch program at one time but it has seen little activity over the past several years.

While revitalizing the Neighborhood Watch program is a good idea, I would hope they combine it with some form of foot patrol in the downtown and Poplar Street areas.  From what I heard over the weekend, there were at least three robberies on Poplar Street last Saturday night and there have been several others in months prior. 

According to the column linked above, foot patrols historically have had little impact on crime but that appears to have changed with increased community stratification.

Burglaries

There's been a spate of burglaries in C'dale recently. I counted 6 residential burglaries posted on the Carbondale Police website in the past week. Officer Randy Mathis, contact for the city's Neighborhood Watch program, sent out these tips for reducing the chances your home is burglarized:

With the recent activity the City of Carbondale Police Department is urging residents to be on the look out for, and to report, suspicious behavior immediately. Posted below are tips that residents can use to help prevent the occurrence of residential burglaries.

Burglary Prevention Tips While Away From Home

- If you are away from your residence, use timers for your lights, television or radio to give the impression that someone is home.

- Do not let newspapers or mail pile up while you are away. Place a hold on these items or have someone collect them for you.

- If possible, have someone check your residence.

- Electronic equipment (computers, digital cameras, video game systems, etc...) are a common target for criminals. Consider taking these items with you.

Burglary Prevention Tips While At Home

Many cases involve the criminal going from house to house looking for unlocked doors or windows. Often the criminal will knock on the door of a residence to see if anyone is home. If someone answers they will ask for a person and pretend they have come to the wrong residence. The suspect may ask to use the phone, or make another statement to keep you from knowing their actual intent.

In order to make you and your home less of a target, please keep in mind the following :

- Keep all doors and windows locked, even if you are at home, will only be gone a short time or are "just going next door." Make sure all locks are functioning properly.

- Never allow someone you don’t know into your residence. If someone comes to your door needing assistance, offer to call the police for them, while they wait outside.

- Keep valuable items out of sight of passers-by.

- Be alert to persons going from house to house, looking in windows or knocking on doors. Report suspicious persons to the police. Make note of the person’s physical description, clothing, tattoos or other distinguishing characteristics and give that information to the police.

- Keep all entrances to your residence well lit and maintain landscaping to prevent hiding places.

- Beware of burglars posing as solicitors. All persons must have a Solicitation Permit issued by the City of Carbondale prior to going door-to-door. After you verify the solicitor has the proper permit and you choose to let them in your residence, do not leave them alone.

- Keep a list of your valuables, including the serial numbers and unique characteristics. If a burglary does occur, providing this information can greatly help in the investigation and recovery process.

- Don’t advertise the property you recently purchased or received as a gift. Put the boxes in a trash bag or trash container. If you leave them out anyone can see what you now have inside your residence.

- REMEMBER! The best crime prevention tool is alert neighbors. Be aware of suspicious activity in your neighborhood, and report it to the police.

Crime Meeting

Sat in on a meeting between residents of the Arbor District, Interim Police Chief Jeff Grubbs and City Manger Allen Gill. Councilman Joel Fritzler and council candidate Justin Stofferahn (who brought cookies, an admirable quality in a city council person) were also there. The main concern I heard brought up was a break down in communication between the Neighborhood Watch captains, a few of which were present, and the police department, especially regarding a couple of recent muggings and a sexual assault in the area. The Watch captains were concerned because they found out about the crimes through the news media rather than through the officer coordinating the Neighborhood Watch.

Chief Grubbs heavily emphasized checking the police department's website for the latest information regarding crimes in the city and signing up for emailed press releases from the department but never did explain why the Neighborhood Watch officer couldn't set up a mailbox to send out emails to the Neighborhood Watch captains regarding incidents in their neighborhoods. The chief reacted without much enthusiasm to the idea of a My Space or Facebook page for the department, saying he preferred to funnel people to the department website rather than pushing information out. He also said crime in Carbondale was at "the low end of a 10 year cycle" and that burglaries in the District were half what they were the previous August through January.

There was also some concern expressed about enforcing maintenance codes regarding vacant and rental properties, which Manager Gill said would be looked into. When an inquiry was made about additional street lighting, Gill said if a list of requested spots was turned into his office, the city would survey them and see if the site met the regulations for installing another light. The meeting ended shortly thereafter.