Vandalism down 41% in Woodstock

Each month the Woodstock Police Department (WPD) submits a report to the City Council. The report contains statistics on numerous categories, including those of special interest to me such as traffic arrests, traffic crashes, stolen, recovered and vandalized property, and other categories. You can read the complete report each month at the library reference desk or at City Hall.

The month's report reveals, if you do the numbers, that vandalized property is down 41.23%. The Year-to-Date total for 2008 was $92,486.
The Year-to-Date total for 2009 is $54,355.
The decrease in vandalized property is $38,131, a 41.23% reduction for the first eight months of 2009.

Thanks to the PD officers for their increased patrols and attention to the areas where vandalism is likely to occur and to those who might be likely to commit the vandalism.

Other numbers in the report are worrisome, though. Stolen property has increased 34%, and recovered stolen property has dropped 24%.

Year-to-date stolen property is $329,613, up from an 8-month total in 2008 of $245,286. This increase (34%) is largely due to a banner month for crooks in February, when they got $152,109.

Year-to-date recovered stolen property is $40,127, down 24% from an 8-month total in 2008 of $53,085 in recovered property.

Not all theft of property can be prevented, but residents can go a long way to help our officers. It's more than closing your garage door, locking your house and turning on your front porch light, which are all good ideas.

When you see suspicious activity, call the P.D. at 815.338.2131. Officers will be glad to check out suspicious cars and people. You might never know that you have prevented a crime. Just by making contact with people who appear suspicious to you, the police identify them. If they are up to no good, they'll move along, because now the police know they are there.

If you see school-age kids roaming your neighborhood on a school day, notify the police. If you see kids or adults coming out of a neighbor's garage and you know the neighbor isn't home, call the police. Don't wait for them to disappear out of sight. And tell the police dispatcher how they are dressed and which way they went. If they get in a vehicle, describe the vehicle to the dispatcher.

Talk to your neighbors about starting a Neighborhood Watch. Call your WPD beat officer and ask if s/he or another officer would be available to attend a meeting of your neighbors. Most, if not all, of the officers will welcome that opportunity.