Crime & Safety
Palo Alto Home Burglaries Down, Arrests Up
The city's crime map details which neighborhoods are hardest hit. The focus of burglars has shifted between September and early October.
The all-out assault that Palo Alto Police have waged against home burglars is working—the most recent month for which statistics are available, September 2012, saw a 50 percent decline from the previous month. Burglaries dropped from 28 in August to 14 in September.
Most Palo Alto neighborhoods were spared in September, but according to police, the University South and Crescent Park neighborhoods were hit hard by criminals.
The city's newest crime map covers burglaries from Oct. 1 - 10. During that period, burglars focused on the Greenmeadow, Crescent Park and Duveneck-St. Francis neighborhoods. While ten burglaries committed during that time would indicate another spike, a burglary a day, police say the overall numbers for the month are holding steady.
Detective Sgt. Brian Philip of the Palo Alto Police Department is pleased with the September results. He credits both the public for its increased vigilance and the police department for dedicating the necessary resources to prevent burglaries and catch those responsible for break-ins. “We have successfully identified and arrested, or in the process of arresting, several suspects,” Det. Sgt. Philip told Patch Tuesday.
He said that some of the suspects are from Palo Alto, while others are from out of the area.
Burglaries in this city typically occur between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., while residents are work and school. Police reassigned detectives into the neighborhoods, doubling the number of police personnel on the street.
They also re-emphasized the Lock It or Lose It Campaign—reminding people to always lock their homes and keep an eye on what’s happening in their neighborhoods. “We’re partners in this,” Philip said, “If you see something—call us. And we want people to think of Lock It or Lose It as a way of life and not just something that’s done for a short time.”
Det. Sgt. Philip said that several investigations are culminating and we should expect more arrests in the coming days or weeks.
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