By Paul Goldfinger
Lately we’ve been hearing a great deal about small-town crime in the Grove including bicycle thefts, car break-ins and house burglaries. One house invasion occurred while the occupant was home upstairs. Last week a panhandler was arrested in town. A few weeks ago a man knocked on a door and told the woman who answered that he just got out of prison and needed money. She was intimidated —she gave him money. She said she felt “fear and anger.”
But there is another sort of small-town crime in Ocean Grove which we need to discuss, and that is when small items are taken from a porch or garden. Last week, we received an email from a Grover who had his flag stolen from his porch. He was very upset and said that he felt “violated.” Another neighbor had some new spring flowers cut and taken. She is a serious gardener and she was horrified.
We know of small-time crooks (apologies to Woody) stealing flower pots, engraved plaques, porch cushions, iron urns, lawn signs, stuffed animals and decorative lights. Last year we lost two copper planters to thieves who successfully fenced them in Neptune Township. Last summer, two teen-age girls on bicycles stopped at our neighbor’s house to steal a pruner off the porch. We challenged them; they didn’t even know what they had.
In traditional small-town America, people leave their doors and possessions unlocked. But many of those towns are in rural areas where there is no street traffic, and the houses tend to be spaced far apart. In Ocean Grove, some people chain their porch furniture, and some people lose their bikes even when they have been locked.
Although the dollar cost of stolen items in the Grove is often relatively small, the true price is much higher in terms of the corrosive psychological effect on residents who live here and expect a certain kind of carefree comfort and safe lifestyle. It is the idea that someone would come onto your property and take something of yours that perhaps is more concerning than the loss of the item itself.
If the people in Ocean Grove begin to feel anxiety about recurrent crime, even petty crime, then the real cost may become noticeable in terms of how people feel about their town.
The Neptune Township PD maintains a presence in the Grove, and they have shown their concern regarding all sorts of criminal activity here. We the citizens need to understand that recurrent small crimes can take their toll, and we need to help control the problem by reporting every one that occurs. And, as my neighbor Meredith says, “If you see something, say something.”