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So once again we are being told we can't open our doors and windows where we live? That crime is on the rise in Lower Merion? Is it so deteriorated that we now have to be suspicious of every strange car that traverses our neighborhoods where we all live? So there was a big packed meeting last night in Bala. People are running around targeting our neighborhoods and that is not particularly nice to hear. Good for LuAnn Cahn going public about herself being a victim of a burglary in Lower Merion. I believe she lives in Bala, and it seems that right now a lot of these burglaries are occuring right in Mr. President's ward - NO - I am not saying it's his fault, just stating fact - as a rather large chunk of the robberies were reported on the news to have occured on streets like Lodges Lane and Trevor Lane. One Year of Firsts: Victim of a Burglary
6ABC: CrimeSuspects sought in rash of burglaries in Bala CynwydUpdated at 06:37 AM today
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- carla's blog
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Hi bc59 - you are very welcome. This IS worrisome and scary.
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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762
Great post, great links! Very scary indeed. What impressed me most was the comments by the officer regarding the level of activity, that as a 30 year veteran he had not seen this level of burglary activity since 1980. He remarked that what was also troubling was the very large numbers of persons stopped by the LMPD in the course of them looking for suspicious persons and checking out their I.D.s that had extensive criminal records. These are people passing through the neighborhoods in LM Township, who have to be let go because they have done nothing wrong (yet, in his words-which got a chuckle from the crowd) and are getting stopped as a result of a suspicious person call or a patrol stop. The officer said he has never seen this many people with extensive criminal records wandering through the township ever. Whether this is a result of the economy or some other factors was talked about but left unanswered.
I respect the job cops do, but remember they pretty much just act as a deterrent and to catch criminals after they commit crimes.
When a premeditated crime is committed by a criminal, you can be sure that criminal will commit the crime when the police are not around.
Ultimately, the responsibility for the protection of your property and yourself is on you. That means doing what it takes to not make you or your property a target, and if enough people do that in Lower Merion through looking out for your neighbors and taking all the proper precautions to make your home a less likely target for a burglar, the crooks will move on and look elsewhere to commit crimes.
I expect the LMPD will do whatever it can to reduce these crimes, but I also hope citizens don't expect government to be able to save them from these problems and allow the government to make a power grab by hiring more cops and raising taxes. We as citizens are the first and primary line of defense. We have a well staffed police force and they should be able to handle this as far as what they can do goes, but the onus is on individuals to not make themselves easy targets in my view.
To be honest, this does not really scare me. I'm not some macho guy, but I can take care of myself. I take common sense safety precautions, whether it be in making my home less of a target, or myself less of a target when out and about. However, I don't dwell on this either. You make it a matter of routine and go about enjoying your life.
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~ As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.
Let me update my thoughts on this. People should be quite concerned from what I found out this afternoon.
I was at a birthday party talking with the parents of a bunch of kids who mostly live on Shirley in Narberth.
In the past four weeks there have been three break-ins on Shirley - which is not a major road with a lot of houses, and it is surprising given how close the houses are to each other.
These have been brazen break-ins by bashing through closed and locked doors.
One couple I know who has an eight month old child was terrified to hear someone trying to bash in their front door on Shirley on evening about 8pm. Their screams scared the criminal off. The father is a doctor who works long hours in Philly and the mother is quite fearful now being home alone - especially after dark.
Another was in a home where both parents were off to work as doctors and the kids were at school. A back door was bashed in and the burglars spent some time ransacking the house.
The third was a quick smash and grab with a propane tank from a grill being thrown through a locked glass sliding door after dark when nobody was home.
All on one small street in Narberth in less than a month.
I have not read about these burglaries in our local papers that could end up being very dangerous home invasions if the criminals get even more brazen. Makes me wonder how much we still don’t know about the amount of crime in LM/Narberth. The LM cops seem to be reporting crimes they never used to, but how about the Narberth cops?
As I side note, I asked the public school parents what their take was with LMSD. Most have elementary school age children. They all thought parents blindly supporting LMSD in regards to the webcam spying in the high schools is nuts, but then they are not happy with redistricting. Their kids go all the way to Harriton when they would prefer much closer Lower Merion High School.
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~ As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.
Politeia's info about the break-ins on Shirley in Narberth, and the opening information in this blog post have helped a great deal to convince some folks in Merion that serious risks exist here. Thank you.
Thanks for posting this Carla. It's certainly worrisome. At least we haven't had any flash mobs yet. Message to all: keep your doors and windows locked!