Monday night Councilwoman Karen Gibson and Police Chief Greg Stevens held a community meeting at Lakeridge Methodist Church to talk about recent crime trends increasing in the neighborhood.
For the last few weeks, LPD Investigators said they have seen an increase in car thefts, car burglaries and credit card abuse.
A lieutenant in the Property Crimes division said thieves have been cashing in on easy targets, homes with the garage door left open, or cars left unlocked. Chief Jerry Brewer said criminals have found MacBooks, purses and guns in unlocked cars.
“If you have a lot of stuff and you live in a nicer neighborhood,” Chief Stevens said. “You can, kind of by default, have to realize that you are going to have criminals come and try to seek out opportunities, crimes of opportunity.”
More than 90 Lakeridge residents met with the councilwoman and police department, many with similar concerns over safety.
“If a couple of you have your house broken into,” Chief Stevens said. “And you have your Ford, you have your car broken into and two of you have your car stolen, in this wide area as that gets on social media and reported you kind of wonder, is my neighborhood safe?”
LPD said they have identified trends, increased patrols and even made a few arrests, but there are more than just a few criminals committing these crimes and residents needs to stay vigilant.
LPD suggests residents lock their cars, take their keys and anything valuable inside the home. Officers said to keep doors closed, locked and lights on at night. Another suggestion, motion-sensor lights that are not expensive or difficult to install.
If items are stolen, LPD suggests keeping record of all serial numbers for expensive items. They said the more information investigators have, the easier it is to recover stolen property. Investigators said the information is also useful in filing claims with insurance companies.
