By Khalida Sarwari
Burglary crimes are up by 9 percent over the last year, newly minted West Valley patrol commander Capt. Rich Urena told a packed audience at the Saratoga Library on Aug. 16.
Urena shared the statistic at a presentation conducted by Santa Clara County sheriff’s Deputy Chad Garton on burglary prevention and awareness. Many alarmed residents were in the room and took advantage of the question-and-answer session at the end to air their concerns and ask questions, even some that brought a chuckle to the officers, such as: How effective is the method used by burglars in movies where they throw a steak to a dog to keep it quiet while they try to sneak into a house? The answer: It doesn’t work in real life.
Garton, a school and neighborhood resource officer, covered the gamut of preparing a home so that it’s as burglary-proof as possible, from alarm and surveillance camera systems and house numbering to lighting, doors, locks and windows. He talked also about the importance of maintaining an emergency contact as well as a photo or video documentation of valuables and a sturdy safe. Garton also shared some do’s and don’ts when leaving for vacation.
“Criminals are generally lazy,” he said at the conclusion of his presentation. “They’re not stupid; they’re just lazy. They want good crimes of opportunity. Make sure you’re making your home or your vehicle the harder target.”
Urena told residents that an analyst at the sheriff’s office is putting together data relevant to burglaries and property crimes, and that once completed, it will be published on Nextdoor.
Last month, a group of armed men entered a home
on Pepper Lane a little past 10 p.m. and took jewelry, cash and electronic items at gunpoint. While no one at the home was injured, the thieves were able to make off with more than $22,000 worth of items, according to the sheriff’s office. Some of the items have since been recovered, said Sgt. James Jensen, but no arrests have been made and detectives are continuing their investigation of the case.
Pam Lavin lives on Pepper Lane, and while she doesn’t know the family affected by the burglary, she said she feels less safe in Saratoga today than she has in the 56 years she’s lived in the city.
“I’ve just noticed a little more severity to these crimes,” she said. “It was a safe place. You had to worry more about your dog getting lost or running away than someone coming in and stealing objects out of your house, and particularly when it’s at gunpoint; that’s what really scares me.”
Lavin said she is interested in setting up a Neighborhood Watch group in Pepper Lane to rally her neighbors together. “I feel everybody in the past sort of looked out for each other, and now a lot of people on the street don’t even know their neighbors,” she said.
In response to the latest spate of burglaries, Mayor Manny Cappello issued a citywide statement on Aug. 11 attributing the uptick in property crimes to Proposition 47, a voter-approved measure that reduced some felony drug and theft offenses to misdemeanors which consequently “has made it more difficult to keep those committing certain types of theft and drug crimes behind bars,” Cappello said in the statement.
Both he and Garton encouraged residents to either call 911 or the sheriff’s office non-emergency number at 408.299.2311 if they see something unusual.
Garton will return to the library on Aug. 30 for another discussion on email and telephone phishing and Internet safety.
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Burglary prevention, awareness covered in deputy’s presentation
