The beginning of January marked a trend of burglaries and attempted burglaries around the city of Davis. So far, at least 19 burglaries have been reported, with four of them being attempted burglaries.
The number of home burglaries and attempted burglaries were calculated over a period of two time cycles.
The Davis Police Crime Analysis Unit stated in a press release that there are some identifiable trends. One trend the Davis Police is noticing is that the intruders have been targeting homes.
“What we’re seeing is it looks like a bit of an increase,” said Lt. Paul Doroshov of the Davis Police. “It looks like we’re getting some concentration in East Davis, specifically more in the Mace Ranch area.”
Doroshov said based on the burglaries that have occurred in East Davis, it appears intruders are using a similar method of entering using the rear doors of houses.
Typically, small electronics and jewelry are taken from the homes.
“The houses are ransacked, which means a person goes through drawers and things like that, looking for small and valuable items,” Doroshov said.
According to a City of Davis Police Department press release, six burglaries were ransacks.
The Davis Police do not know if the intruders in all of the reported cases are the same person or group of people.
On Feb. 7, Davis Police were dispatched to South Davis for two different burglaries. Officers apprehended both perpetrators.
On Feb. 13 in East Davis, a 12-year-old boy dialed 911 when a stranger attempted to forcibly enter his home. The suspect fled the scene when Davis Police arrived.
“The only description [of the suspect] we got was a male in his 30s with a dark T-shirt,” Doroshov said.
On Feb. 16, Davis Police detained Shawn Steele, a 42-year-old male, of Winters at Saratoga Place in West Davis. He was arrested for attempted burglary.
“When something like this starts, the first thing we do is we put the information out so our officers can form a way to deploy themselves and generally focus on those areas [blighted with robberies],” Doroshov said. “A lot of it is looking out for each other since police officers can’t be everywhere at the same time.”
The Davis Police recommends residents to form Neighborhood Watch programs.
“This goes for students, too,” Doroshov said. “This is just as beneficial for students living in apartment complexes as it is for homeowners.”
Doroshov said historically, many apartments are broken into as well because students have the kind of electronics burglars want.
The Old North Davis Neighborhood Association (ONDNA) is in the progress of making a Neighborhood Watch.
“Even before the discussion of recent clusters of burglary, Old North Davis has been in an 18-month slow march toward a Neighborhood Watch that covers our ONDNA with its 200 households in 12 square blocks,” said Vice Chair of ONDNA Dennis Dingemans in an e-mail. “A police department representative attended the first 30 minutes of our one-hour meeting, summarizing the steps needed to create an ONDNA-wide watch and the procedures when implemented.”
Doroshov said the Davis Police is hoping it’s not only the string of burglaries that motivate people to be on their toes. He said it’s generally good practice to know the neighbors and keep an eye out for each other.
“For us, as far as we go, we’re trying to get the word out so people are more cautious,” Doroshov said.
CLAIRE TAN can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
