Posted: Friday, February 13, 2009 12:00 am
Traditionally local law enforcement agencies across the nation host what's best described as a national block party in August to raise awareness of crime and remind people that each honest, concerned neighbor is the best defense against it. It's called National Night Out.
As we do each year, we will both advance and cover the local Aug. 4 event. But more than six months ahead of schedule, we are urging people to consider hosting their own block parties, dorm get-togethers and workplace safety meetings to take a preventative approach to crime.
The reason is evident to anyone who regularly reads our news pages and the police blotter entries in our "Crime Watch" section. The rise in property crimes is dramatic.
Reporter Kyle Odegard is working on a story we'll publish soon about the spike in car prowls alone. We've also seen a rash of bank robberies, armed robberies and burglaries over this time last year and are working to compile that information as well.
Blaming the economy is a first impulse, and it could indeed be the reason that we're seeing more people willing to make off with a computer left on a table or a purse hung on the back of a chair. Property is disappearing off porches and people are lifting backpacks and bicycles.
Frustrated police are both short-staffed and short on options with how to deal with these property criminals they do arrest. As we've reported many times, they often see the criminal they arrested released before they've finished the booking paperwork.
That point was illustrated again Wednesday both here and in Albany, where it seemed our quiet mid-valley was suddenly a dangerous place.
In Albany, across the street from the office of our sister newspaper, the Democrat-Herald, a man suspected in a series of armed robberies was shot in a confrontation with police.
Locally a man is accused of leading police on a dangerous chase through downtown Philomath in a stolen pickup truck. Early reports indicated the reckless driver ran people off the road and passed illegally. He had been released from jail Tuesday - the same day that the stolen pickup was nabbed. Why was he in jail? For parole violation. The man is back in jail on multiple charges for now.
But most crime is both less dramatic and more personal. Being aware that we are likely to see even more crime in the coming months is the first step in taking steps to reduce our chances of becoming victims. The rest is a matter of research, common sense - and luck.