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Crime Alert for Church Hill & Church Hill North
Lieutenant Laino of Sector 111 has issued an alert for Church Hill and Church Hill North due to “an increase in burglaries and thefts from motor vehicles in the Church Hill Neigborhood and surrounding areas”:
Since the beginning of July your neighborhoods have experienced a significant increase in burglaries and thefts related to motor vehicles. This month alone 14 residents were burglarized and 13 vehicles were broken into. […] With the help of citizens we have been able to obtain a description of two possible suspects. According to witnesses one of the two suspects would knock on doors or ring door bells, if someone answered they would ask to cut their lawn. If there was no answer, the suspects would leave the area. Shortly after, he would return and knock on the door a second time. If there was no answer on the second attempt, the suspect(s) would enter the home by either kicking in the rear door or breaking out a window
Read Lt.Laino’s alert (PDF) for more information and prevention tips.
“This month alone 14 residents were burglarized and 13 vehicles were broken into.”
I remember a lot of folks here on chpn being very critical of Eric Driver’s response to this kind of crime earlier this year and saying we should just continue to dial 9-11, file the relevant police reports, and accept our lot / losses.
But 13-14 victims just this month? Wow. Hope there aren’t too many more before the police catch these guys – Kinda seems like the police maybe lack the resources to deal with it all though, eh? (And I ain’t criticizin’ – I got a load of respect for good men and women of law enforcement).
I guess we’ll just have to keep hoping and praying that they’ll bring these crooks in soon, eh? Would be really nice if the courts would back the police up and actually lock these guys up for a bit.
I’m wondering if Church Hill has seen an increase in open air drug market activity because it is rampant up here right now. Everyone on my block is calling the cops and contacting CAPS trying to find a solution but the dealers and their “kids” move fast, keep in constant contact by phone and walkie talkie and disappear before the cops arrive. Also,Anyone have some advice on how to deal with an absentee landlord who is letting his place be used as a base for this activity?
Fulton Hill Rez,
I like to use the City’s CITIZEN REQUEST online thing. If you go to the city website there’s a link on the upper left side. It might take a while to get done but it at least puts some pressure on the landlord to fix the issues or sell the property. Also take a look at the city’s building code and property management ordinances. Property owners can face fines for various violations.
Can anyone explain why all of the incidents reported by Lt. Laino do not show up on the crime info map linked to this site?
Good question. The data for the crime map is pulled from the Richmond Police Department’s Crime Incident Information, which does not seem to contain the data referenced by Lt.Laino.
Idon’t know the Fulton hill area personally, so I can’t give you names. But each area of the city is broken into prcincts, and each precinct into sectors. The sector lieutenant is resposnbile to the chief and the community for all policing. Go to the RPD website, track down your sector Lt and ask for a meeting. Walk the neighborhodd with the Lt and then keep in contact. Use your city council offices to stay on top of the issues. It’s true that Richmond has one of the largest PD’s in the state in terms of percapita, but they can’t be everywhere. Let them know this is important to you.
National Night Out on August 4 is a good place to start, but just going to a party at the Fulton NRC is not going to be enough. It starts on the streets.
How do we get one of those signs like they have in the bottom (17th St. Farmers Market as example) alerting to 24 hour a day video surveillance? Even better, how do we get the cameras?
David, thanks for the info. I’ve called the first precinct along with several neighbors. We’ve done the walking thing and the meetings (MANY times over the last 9 years). The night before last my neighbor’s truck was broken into. The responding officer said the the property in question has been a known “drug house”: for 20 years and the only thing that we residents can do to fix it is use an F-16 on it…so , seems they know where the trouble is but can’t seem to do anything about it. Our block is very proactive, involved, alert and motivated. The policeman basically sent us the message that we should move if we don’t like the neighborhood.
Frustrated in Fulton…Again.
#8. That’s unacceptable. If the sector lieutenant won’t/can’t help, escalate it to the Precinct Commander. If that won’t work, ask Mrs. Squire to arrange a meeting with the Chief. Brian Norwood is an excellent chief, who will demand accountability.
As to the question abaout the cameras, strangely enough, there are cameras availble in the sporting goods stores that will work. They range from about $70 to about $200, and will work in either still or a motion picture mode. They block images to a camera card, which can be plugged into any card reader. As to the 17th Street market, ask the market manager or the Shockoe Bottom association.
last night our 2 cars passenger windows were smashed in with glove box and console rifled through. police came and photographed the broken glass and left.
everyone be alerted. this should stop.
25th and clay
My car and my neighbors car were broken into Sunday night. The passenger side window was broken just like it was identified in th alert. The person that came to fix the window said he had to fix 7 other cars in the same area that day. 23rd and broad
#11, that means, you and your neighbor plus the other seven that the repair guy was doing total nine cars – then, add two more from post #10, that’s a total of ELEVEN cars broken into just on Sunday night, and all in the same general area. Really not good.
Any news on this?