Crime Wave

[AngieB]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

You are correct, I do not know the area very well, I do like west Tulsa, I have been there alot and offten drove down Southwest Blvd- it has classic old time charm of bygone eras. I think west Tulsa is Tulsa's best kept secret. East of the river Tulsa is all malls and stores & shops and traffic choked.

I drive SW Blvd nearly every day...I must be missing the "old time charm" you see.

Most of what I see makes me sad.

[shadows]

Each day we cry to increase the cities size but like the Midas touch come the crime elements that are protected by the demographics that create a shelter for the criminals.  The criminals love the Midas touch that has been given to them.

Like King Midas when this is given with growing cities many find it is too late to remove.

Is not crime a way of life in the big cities?    

Society banded together for their protection and now we find that the gathering becomes a safe harbor for the criminal element.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

I live on 28th Street just East of Harvard.  +/- one block of me over the weekend 3 car stereos were stolen.  Another neighbor walked down to Braums and back to get Bfast as his wife slept... when he got back his HDTV was stolen.  My next door neighbor had his central A/C unit stolen!  The unit is about 15 feet from where my son sleeps.  This is only of the handful of people that I know in my neighborhood.

That's simply crazy.  I've been pretty secure in my little bubble around here.  Glad you can now use deadly force to protect property in Oklahoma, anyone that enters property so boldly is certainly a threat and deserving of getting shot.

Same here Cannon.  I live on 26th St, just east of Yale, about a mile east of you and the same types of things have been going on around me all summer long.  There have been about 6 car break-ins at houses surrounding me in the past few months, radios stolen, etc.  Just this past Saturday, some yahoo burglared the house next door to me through an open back yard window, stole $100 cash and some electronics, and disappeared.  This happened around 2:00 PM in the afternoon!  I haven't heard of any A/C units being stolen yet, but it is probably just a matter of time.  Seems to me that most of the incidents in my neighborhood have been comitted by juveniles with way too much time on their hands.

All I can do is make sure my property is secure as possible.  I make sure all doors and windows are closed and locked when I leave.  I keep padlocks on my 2 backyard gates 24/7; won't keep intruders out, but any deterent helps.  I keep my house well lit outside at night.

I have noticed more police drive throughs on my street in the past 6 months or so, probably because we have a "problem house" two doors down from me that has had 12 or more police/EMSA calls in the past year, mostly for domestic violence.

What are the current Oklahoma/Tulsa laws on using guns against trespassers at your domicile?  I thought you can only fire a gun against an intruder if you feel your life is threatened.  I don't own a gun; if I did, I would probably be in jail right now.

[TheArtist]

quote:Originally posted by shadows

Each day we cry to increase the cities size but like the Midas touch come the crime elements that are protected by the demographics that create a shelter for the criminals.  The criminals love the Midas touch that has been given to them.

Like King Midas when this is given with growing cities many find it is too late to remove.

Is not crime a way of life in the big cities?    

Society banded together for their protection and now we find that the gathering becomes a safe harbor for the criminal element.

If increasing size increases crime rates. How come things like the murder rate in NYC are about half Tulsas murder rate, and dropping? Londons murder rate is less than half of NYC. Why is the over all crime rate lower in OKC per person even when compared to Tulsa County per person? Why are more rural Southern states, especially rural and smaller cities crime rates, increasing, while the more urban New England states have lower crime rates? Toronto, population over 1million, 1.8 homicides per 100,000 in 2006, Tulsa population 400,000 about 11 homicides per 100,000. And other crimes track similarly.

Crime rates more generally track with income and educational levels than population. Perhaps you prefer the bucolic, pastoral bliss and safety of places like Darfur over the crime ridden pestilence of London or Singapor?

 Criminals are not the only ones that benefit from that "Midas Touch", frankly I like that "Midas Touch" too, I make good money off of it. But I in no way want to stop you from your quest to get rid of cities. (whatever it takes to get you off of here) So, good luck with that little endeavor. [8D]


http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/237224

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by Steve

Just this past Saturday, some yahoo burglared the house next door to me through an open back yard window, stole $100 cash and some electronics, and disappeared.  This happened around 2:00 PM in the afternoon!  I haven't heard of any A/C units being stolen yet, but it is probably just a matter of time.  Seems to me that most of the incidents in my neighborhood have been comitted by juveniles with way too much time on their hands.

All I can do is make sure my property is secure as possible.  I make sure all doors and windows are closed and locked when I leave.  I keep padlocks on my 2 backyard gates 24/7; won't keep intruders out, but any deterent helps.  I keep my house well lit outside at night.

Please believe me when I say Im not making jest of your predicament, but I tend to smirk just a bit when I hear of people lighting their yards in response to daytime burglaries.  It's not your fault, though, we have been conditioned to think that way by certain commercial interests.

It's interesting that school districts like those in Oregon, Texas and California have practically eliminated nighttime vandalism and burglaries by not floodlighting schools the way Tulsa does.  (Go to the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities website at http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/lighting.cfm and search for "Dark Campus Programs").

And while nothing beats a dog with free access to an enclosed yard, properly-installed motion detector lights shine only when you need it and let you know when someone's around.
Overly-bright dusk-to-dawn lights are what a lot of people are led to believe is "good lighting" but when you and your neighbors are asleep behind thick curtains who's really using that light?

But yeah, visibly open back window + nice weather + bored teens = crime opportunity.
That's when you get to know your neighbors (and make sure your "security" lighting isnt forcing them behind thick curtains).

[TheArtist]

I have the sensor lights around my house and I like that they are not on. I am more likely to be aware of someone coming around my house when a glaring light suddenly comes on than if it were always on. Plus the neighbors dog barks when any light comes on lol. Just my porchlight is on all night. Dont worry, it is an energy efficient bulb Patric [].

[inteller]

While the rest of you are on the front lines battling crime with alarms and sensors, you new (old) police chief is getting ready to move into his $400k digs in the gated part of Wind River snugly tucked away in South County.

I guess being an "at will" employee has its perks.

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

I have the sensor lights around my house and I like that they are not on. I am more likely to be aware of someone coming around my house when a glaring light suddenly comes on than if it were always on. Plus the neighbors dog barks when any light comes on lol. Just my porchlight is on all night. Dont worry, it is an energy efficient bulb Patric [].

Youre forgiven []
But seriously, light for ambiance and brute force "security" lighting are like comparing apples to oranges.  Low-voltage lighting is often a better candidate for lighting walkways and shrubs around homes than those "PROTECTS 300-GAZILLION FEET AROUND YOUR HOME FROM EVIL" glare bombs you see in the stores.

I dont sweat mom and pops 60-watt porch light (but if they're on a fixed income a 12-watt Compact Fluorescent bulb does the job just as well for less money).

[AMP]

Lights, Camera, Action!  

All of my lights were left on, and the Speed Shops surveillance camera system was stolen.

Past three times my homes have been burglarized the culprits turned on every light in the house so they could see what they were stealing. They even had the front porch light on so they could see the steps I guess.   Of course no one living around us noticed or heard a thing.  Second time they used a large truck based on the number and size of items they stole.  That was during the middle of the day between 1pm and 5:30pm while we were all at work.  

Today they even steal the trash-cans to haul the stuff away.  Girls that work for us were hit and the thieves took the large green trash-can on wheels to roll their goods away in. Came in the front window and went out the front door!

Day or night, I have been broke into at all hours.  Interesting observation however is that every time I got hit one else other than the thieves was at our house.    

I would submit that someone that knows you has eye contact with your home or building or knows someone that knows you commits the majority of these types of burglaries.  

My sister was hit in another state.  She was running errands around town and noticed a strange vehicle that seemed to be following her.  She phoned her husband and he met her at the entrance to their neighborhood.  Upon arriving home the discovered they had been burglarized of the majority of their belongings.  Thieves had a large moving type truck.  A clock had been knocked off the wall and stopped just 8 minutes before they returned to discover they had been hit.  

Person in the other vehicle was obviously in contact with those in the house during the robbery.  He peeled off before she reached her neighborhood.

All the sophisticated alarms, lights, dogs, and helpful neighbors are easily defeated by someone that knows you or has given the information to others.  Called Social Engineering and there is little one can do about it.

Just be heavily insured using a product that provides "Full Replacement Value" and has and low deductibles.

Primo's Mexican restaurant on North Sheridan put a super nice flat screen TV in their dining area.  I told the owners that that TV would not last two weeks there.  They had a back door with a glass window and a thumb dead bolt on the inside.  They also had a large glass aluminum frame window on the front.  Both eaisly broken. They had an alarm system working, but we all know the response time for those monitored systems is slow.  Thieves broke the front door window, smash and grabbed the TV and tuner system and were gone in 60 seconds.  

The strip center to the South of that location has been broken into a dozen times. Video games in the Laundry smash and grab, windows in the carpet store and petty cash drawer smash and grab, water outlets have been left on causing flooding, list goes on.  

Lady near our office had her 1988 Oldsmobile stolen out of the parking lot.  Her neighbor had his late model pickup drivers window smashed and his steering column damaged.  Thieves broke the lock on the tool box in the truck bed and made off with $1,500 in tools.  Four windows in that building have been smashed in.  Across the street man has had three of his cars broken into and had stereo systems from all of them stolen.   Person I know in Yukon, Oklahoma experienced the same problem last week at his repair shop.  Customers cars were hit and six stereo systems were stolen among other items.  

[sauerkraut]

WoW, I have been reading the stories about crime, it seems pretty darn bad. A big part of the problem is law enforcement does not rake break-in crimes "high" on the list of crimes from what I hear- and the punishment, if caught is not much more than a wrist slap. That's part of the reason I moved out of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metro-plex in 1990, The crime was getting real bad and I just my divorce so no use staying there. Crime in Texas was real bad, you could not have nothing without the risk of it being taken.

[sauerkraut]

I guess one of the best things a person can do to protect your stuff is to own a dog, criminals like to avoid homes with dogs. It's really bad that you can't buy anything nice for your home without the risk of it being taken. A HDTV is a hot theft item as are electronics.

[shadows]

Artist:  
Using Time almanac under, law enforcement, NYC reports violent crimes per 100K in 1995 as murder 16.1, rape 32.4, robbery 809.   Burglary 1009.5.

Tulsa: murder 8, rape 67.8, robbery251.1, burglary 1,610 per 100K.

In 1950 when we left town over the weekend we did not even lock the doors.  We left the keys  in the cars over night.  

The city has grown only 30K since 1995 and we already this year have 10.25 + murders per 100k and increasing weekly.  There are many factors that must be considered when comparing  the 400k of Tulsa to the 7.5 million of NYC.

We place steel bars over our windows and doors.  Even what is considered a small city we already cannot control crime.  We are prisoners in our own homes, still we want to increase the availability of persons on trails and gathering places to the uncontrolled criminal element.  

The same fellow that calculated the income we would get from the lottery for education and the PGA in sales taxes must also be calculating the riches we have coming from world travelers coming to see our sand bar river after development.  Wake up the coffee is ready.        

[AMP]

I owned an obedience utility level trained German Shepherd I purchased from a reputable kennel that breeds these dogs.  He was home when I was broken into.  Thieves broke the window in the kitchen door, and reached in and unlocked the dead-bolt lock.  They left out the garage door and through the overhead roll up.  Loaded up right in the driveway.  

My dog was 8-yrs old at the time, and had lived with me since he was a puppy, was standing in the garage when I arrived home that evening after work.  He did not seem to act abnormal at all about the entire deal.  Didn't seem to bother him one bit.  Guess if they had tried to take his toys, chew bones, water bowl or food there may of been a totally different outcome.

We have owned monitored alarms, surveillance camera recording systems,  dogs, motion lights, dead-bolts, bars on windows.  Been there done most of it.  They stole the camera recording equipment from the speed shop.  Cut the wires to the alarm and disabled the phone dialer by using a hacksaw to cut the conduit containing all the phone lines to the building we were in.   Smashed the crap out of the alarm box on the wall once they pryed the door open using a crow bar they left behind.  Rolled the safe out the back door using a task chair on wheels.  Cut the safe open using a quickie concrete saw they stole from Irish O'Gradys pawn shop when they robbed him.  Use a stolen Ford from the ford dealership to haul away some of the stuff.

Ones that broke into our office were caught months later with some of the evidence at their residence.    

[cannon_fodder]

Shadows... while I agree with the major premise that there is too much crime -

Go find statistics from sometime in the last decade.

and no one cares what happened in 1950.  In spite of everything being paved with gold, the races singing together in harmony, and there being no crime on the streets - I do not care.  I know people in Tulsa today that do not lock this doors, does that somehow make them smart or more secure?  In the 1950's kids used to steal cars to take them for joy rides and it was just kids stuff...  it was a different world.  For better or worse, its DEAD.  Please, for the love of god, move on with your life.

[breitee]

The problem is with our revolving door justice system and bleeding heart liberal judges. We need to get tough on these criminals and have the punishment fit the crime.