NORFOLK, Va. - When thinking about what's important to you, what comes to mind?
For many people, it's family, friends and safety. Despite this, former Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone said people still aren't doing enough to protect themselves and loved ones.
The retired Chief, WTKR's Law Enforcement Analyst, sees things on a home that could be putting families at risk.
"One of the things [criminals] think about first is the location. Okay? If it's a well-established neighborhood, generally, they move on to a location that's not as established," he said.
Though these days, crime seems to be widespread across all cities. When criminals pick a target, Boone said it's often strategic.
"Let's just take [the house] we're looking at, for an example. One of the first things a criminal would look at, is there a perimeter fence? Obviously, there's no fence here. A fence necessarily won't stop anyone from breaking in, but it is serving as a deterrent. In addition to that, they look around and see if there's anywhere they could hide. Now this is in terms of shrubbery and trees and things of that nature. This [property] is pretty wide so to navigate to that front door, they run the risk of being seen," Boone said.
The home that News 3's Erin Miller and Boone were looking at had "private property" and "no trespassing" signs.
"It's effective in terms, you know, if law enforcement is in the area and they recognize a suspicious person or there's a call regarding a suspicious person — those signs give [officers] probable cause to approach that person. So yes, it is effective. I would suggest that most homeowners do the same thing," he said.
Video surveillance like Ring cameras is also effective and so is communication with your neighbors.
"If you're away from the house or you're out of town, whatever the case may be, have [your neighbors] check your mailbox, take your mail at the mailbox, collect your newspaper, so that it looks like someone's living here. If you don't have a car in your driveway, have your neighbor park their car in your driveway," he said.
Boone also suggests homeowners lock their car doors.
"I cannot tell you the number of stolen cars, or cars that were vandalized, due to folks not locking their doors. They just for whatever reasons don't," he said.
For some perspective, News 3 looked into the statistics for reported robberies, larcenies, motor vehicle thefts and break-ins on Norfolk's public crime mapping system.
At the time of the report, of these crimes, there was a total of more than 150 reported in the past week and 720 in the past month.
"Lock your doors. Don't leave anything of value in your vehicle," said Boone. "Based on what's inside the car, they may get curious enough to come [back] to your residence to get more property."
If someone does come back to your residence, it's important to have a solid door, though Boone said most break-ins happen from a side or rear window. Adding extra lighting and security cameras can act as a deterrent.
"I would say certain communities that have experienced relatively low crime have a false sense of security, and have a tendency to leave their vehicles unlocked in their driveway [and] leave their front doors unlocked. They're just asking for opportunity," Boone said.
If they do fall victim, some wonder how seriously their reports are taken by any given department.
Erin Miller asked, "If they say, 'I filed the police report about my vehicle being stolen, let's say, or my vehicle being broken into, and the case is still open, I haven't heard back from the officer.' What is the response to a type of complaint like that, where somebody might be wondering, 'why haven't I heard anything?'"
Boone responded, "Well, I can tell you larceny for model, the type of crime you just described is, you know, insurmountable not just in Norfolk, but across Hampton Roads. To be quite frank with you, the event has occurred and the investigator is probably drowning in other reports as well. I can assure you, they're doing the very best they can, but unfortunately, they they're just having a difficult time and catch it up."
To help with this problem, in 2020 the Norfolk Police Department created the Telephone Response Unit (TRU) and a program called "NPD Live."
TRU allows citizens to speak with an officer virtually, like a Facetime, and make incident reports.
"One of the things citizens would say, when they called the police department or the operator was, 'I want to visually see a policeman,'" Boone said. "I think that's just a matter of customer service. They feel as though that their needs are being met."
"I think at the end of the day, a lot of times people just want to be heard and taken seriously, especially because sometimes these crimes might be overlooked. But like you said before, if something happens, this is the most important thing that's happening to a victim or a family. They could be new homeowners and this is the first time that something ever happened. I think that there's a lot of emotion that some that gets embroiled in a situation," Miller said.
Speaking of emotions, be wary because the holidays are a time when criminals use yours to their advantage.
"You're going to have folks coming to your door, looking for opportunity to victimize you under the guise of charitable organizations. I would suggest homeowners ask for ID have them immediately identify the organization that they're representing," he said.
Boone also said it's important to know that this time of the year, crime goes up. So while you are preparing for the season of giving, follow these tips:
- Shop during the daytime and if you can't, try to take someone with you
- Avoid parking next to vans or vehicles with tinted windows
- Keep your keys in your hand to avoid fumbling through a bag or purse
