Avalon Police Chief: Lock Items to Prevent Theft

AVALON — The major crime that occurs here is bicycle theft and it’s simply a result of owners not locking their possessions.
It might seem obvious, but if everyone locked their cars, homes and bicycles, they wouldn’t be stolen and the crime rate here would drop significantly.
“If the public enlists themselves to protect their own property, we would see a major reduction,” Avalon Police Chief David Dean said.
New Jersey State Police 2008 Uniform Crime Report shows the borough had a crime index total of 247. The NJ State Police Department compiles the report from information provided by all departments in the state.
Dean said a majority of the borough’s crime could have been prevented.
“Of the 247 crimes, 245 were property crimes such as theft or criminal mischief, i.e. vandalism. Of those, 179 were thefts of unlocked bicycles and of items from unsecured cars, homes sheds, etc.”
There were only two violent crimes in the borough throughout 2008.
“During the 23 years that I have served with the Avalon Police Department, I have witnessed very few actual forcible thefts; almost all have resulted from crimes of opportunity on unsecured bikes, cars and homes,” Dean said.
“Out of the grand total of property crimes in 2008, 72 percent of might have been prevented by the most basic of security measures. In other words, with the public’s assistance and through the use of bike locks and by securing cars and homes, our crime index might have been 68, not 247.”
He said 2007, the year he became police chief, was a peak year with a total of 219 bicycles stolen. Since then, that number has declined from year-to-year.
As of September, 162 bikes were stolen in 2009.
“Bicycle theft, in particular, has become rampant over the last ten years and the Avalon Police Department has addressed the issue by strictly enforcing equipment issues such as no head lamps during the hours of darkness, making investigative stops on suspicious bicyclists and even stopping at homes that have unsecured bikes or other property plainly evident and advising them of the risk.”
Dean said bike thefts usually occur between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.
He said experience has taught him that if thieves have to break in, they are likely to not make the effort and move on to easier targets.
A majority of the crimes occur because people have made their property available.
Dean said “thieves of opportunity, not career thieves,” whose judgment is skewed, perform the thefts when returning home from a night out.
Furthermore, when property isn’t locked, someone within the vicinity of the theft may not even realize they are witnessing a crime because there is no forced entry.
He said it takes less than a minute for people to help themselves to someone else’s possessions in an unlocked car. Items like cash or bikes have no registration to prove theft or ownership.
Often relaxed visitors get a little relaxed about security measures.
“We want visitors to feel safe and comfortable, but we don’t want their vacation ruined by having property taken from them,” Dean said. “It’s preventable by minimal effort on part of the public by taking basic precautions.”
He provided a breakdown of the 179 thefts of unsecured items in 2008:
• 127 thefts were of unsecured bicycles outside
• 13 thefts were of unsecured items outside
• 13 thefts were taken from unlocked cars
• 11 thefts were taken from open garages
• 5 thefts were items taken from a bar or restaurant
• 5 thefts were taken from unsecured construction sites
• 3 thefts were taken from unlocked sheds
• 2 thefts were items taken from unsecured homes
“As chief of police, I have addressed the issue with many of our civic groups and through the use of our AM radio broadcasts,” Dean said.
He plans for a public information campaign this summer to remind visitors to lock up via borough website, direct mailings and flyers.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck@cmcherald.com.