Blogfinger

Read the comments below to appreciate that this is a significant problem.  Internet photo

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

December 27, 2013.  Ocean Grove:      Yesterday we received an email from a neighbor on Mt. Hermon Way near Firemen’s Park.  She said :

“A burglar has been breaking into houses around here.xxxxxx, on Christmas day, someone else, apparently, on Main Ave., Today, I heard second hand that xxxxxx had someone look in their living room window a few days ago. Someone’s on the prowl.”  She suggested that I check out the situation.

I replied that we are not investigative reporters on Blogfinger, and those people need to report these events to the police.  I did however put out a note of caution in our “Wassup” section, although I had no detailed information on the matters at hand.  Later she emailed again to say that those people did report the events to the police.

Then today we heard from another neighbor, John Higley, who said,  “Regarding prowlers, I was arriving home on Mt. Hermon Way Thursday night and passed a Neptune PD car heading west on Main Ave, with a white light array on top that could illuminate Metlife Stadium. As I parked and was opening the front door it drove down Mt Hermon with the light of a thousand suns filling the street. Not a bad deterrent. “

Then later today, I get a call from another neighbor, this time one on the south side of Main, across from the park. she tells me that there was a break-in at 108 Heck, where a burglar entered the basement. And then she tells me of another break-in near there on Main, and yet another on Broadway.  Her comment was “There’s been a rash of burglaries.”

Evidently the police have been advised about all of these incidents. She wondered why they didn’t use the reverse 911 technique to alert everyone.  She called Committeeman Randy Bishop who lives in the Grove. He said he hadn’t heard about it, but he would look into the matter.

I find the whole thing disconcerting and even bizarre. If there have been such episodes in a particular neighborhood, and if the police were notified, shouldn’t they have an officer come into the neighborhood, knocking on doors and alerting the folks who live there?   Why didn’t that happen?  And, for that matter, why hasn’t the entire town been notified of such a threat?   This time of year we have many empty houses, and anything that can help prevent such crimes should be implemented.  This includes all home owners lighting their properties while they are away.

And, if I may be mildly critical of my neighbors, if they were experiencing prowlers, shouldn’t they have sent emails and/or phone calls and/or knocks on the door to everyone within 2 blocks of their houses?   I suggest that each neighborhood create an email/phone list to be shared with all neighbors. We need to do a better job of looking our for each other.

As far as Neighborhood Watch is concerned, that is a joke.  Who’s watching?   It should be abolished, because it is a sham.    Even the NTPD  Neighborhood Watch  reports just petty crimes.  It seems that those crime reports are censored to shield us from more serious occurrences.

Am I wrong?  What do you think?

EDITOR’S NOTE: At 4:20 pm on Friday a reverse 911 call was placed to residents from the NTPD which said that “there have been several incidences of burglary and theft in the vicinity of Ocean Grove.”   It was suggested that all residents lock doors and windows  and to secure valuable items.  The caller said that the police “strongly urge basic crime-prevention techniques and report all suspicious activity to the NYPD at 732 988 8000 or call 911 in an emergency situation. ” —PG

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