Riverside Break in

[The Compound]

My friend on Ernest street near Margaret just got broken into AGAIN this morning. He was only gone for 30 minutes. They obviously watched him leave, then kicked in his front door. Everyone needs to keep an eye out. I cant believe people are kicking in front doors and leaving with TVs and no one sees this happen.

[second_pancake]

If this has happened more than once, maybe your friend needs to think about a security system rather than replacing his TV's.

[The Compound]

Um, he does have a security system. Do you think cops actually come? The first time they ripped the security system out of the closet. This time they just kicked in the door got what they wanted and left while the alarm is going off.   Any more wise ideas?

[second_pancake]

Seriously???  He has a monitored security system...not an alarm, a security system??  Wow, if the trigger-happy cops (how many cops are there now, like 5? lol) don't respond to break-ins anymore, than no, I don't have anymore wise ideas.  Oh, wait, yes I do!  I have a vacant house down there that I can't sell.  Your friend could move some stuff into my place to entice the thiefs and we could further entice them to destroy any evidence they may leave behind by leaving out some strategically placed lighter fluid and matches :-).  Hmm, now that I think of it, that only solves MY problem, not your friend's, lol.

[The Compound]

Yeah its a monitored security system. Last time his house got broken into, the alarm company called the cops, and he called the cops. It took them 2.5 hrs to respond.

[TREE4309]

and that, friends, is why a security system is essentially worthless.

[David]

They pretty much are. I worked at ADT years ago monitoring alarms and the Duval county sherffif's office would fine people after a certain number of false alarms. Plus my bro's a cop and suggest that the level of priority they put on responding to alarms is like ....-5. I always had to haggle with the dispatchers to even take the alarm calls. Sometimes if they were too busy they'd flat out tell me "sorry, we're not responding to alarm calls right now"

So with all the other action going on in killville, they just don't have time to rush to house alarms in the higher crime areas.

I had thought that part of Riverside had been improving in terms of crimes against property, but i've heard of way too many incidents in the past year.

Suggestion: don't own anything nice! Seems to work ok for me, my t.v.'s 200 years old!

[RiversideLoki]

Sadly it's a fact that riverside police don't respond nearly as fast as they should. They've become pretty complacent to the fact that there are so many break-ins.

Living on a busy main road has helped that somewhat. I was usually able to flag a cop down within 10 minutes vs. calling which would get us one "within an hour". Getting them to run prints on the car breakins was next to impossible.

[Shwaz]

Oh I hate Safe Toooouchh!

[stephElf]

Not trying to take this thread too off track... but here are just some random questions (and I am not trying to convey any sort of opinion)

What percentage of "alarm calls" are a) false alarms  b) a physical crime against a person or a pet?

If they are typically smash & grabs... does it make sense for the police to promptly respond to these?  I only say this, because as much as it sucks to have stuff taken, insurance claims can cover "stuff".  If they have clear data that shows certain trends, and police resources are limited, shouldn't they spend their time responding to calls where people's safety is in jeopardy?

That being said, they could be sitting on their lazy butts for all I know...

In an ideal world, the dispatchers could QUICKLY determine false alarms / calls vs. real threats and we would have the man power to respond to all of them quickly. Of course that isn't the case.

Are there cops in riverside whose sole purpose it is to patrol the area? Bicycle cops?  Is there a desire or way to petition for that?

As an added sidebar... I have called 911 a few times and they waste A LOT of time.  I have quickly stated all pertinent info in a sentence or less and they have me on the phone for 5 valuable minutes about nonsense and repeating myself... those minutes aren't valuable to me, but they are to the person whose life I was trying to save.

[TheProfessor]

He needs to get a dog!

[stephElf]

haha good call! And a German Shepherd 

They are typically guard dogs by nature.. although they can be very sweet. I had one growing up...

[downtownparks]

Thats what I have. I leave my dog inside. I have had two burglurys stopped because of them. Once was a brazen attempt, someone used a ladder to kick in one of my windows, and was quickly chased back by my dog. The second time someone found my tiny downstairs bathroom window unlocked, climbed in, and quickly locked themselves in my bathroom.

My one suggestion, if you get a dog, get one that is an actual watch dog. My indoor dog is loving, and great with the kids, but Im pretty sure he would kill someone breaking into his house.

[jaxlore]

the other thing would be bars and and iron gate. my neighborhood has 3 different retired couples constantly outside but i tell you even then we've had a few but usually back door crashers.

[jbroadglide]

I have a pair of Dobermans and I let them out in the fenced in front yard every day just to let the..uh...less than desirable neighbors know they are there. Otherwise they stay in the house during the day, with the ability to get into the backyard, also fenced. Best alarm system on the planet..