The Evanston Police Department is bracing for the annual “holiday crime spike” by alerting residents, officials said.
Crime spikes around the holiday season are a statistical fact in many communities, not just Evanston, said Evanston Police Chief Richard Eddington. Specifically, property crimes like burglary and “criminal damage to property” tend to increase dramatically.
“Offenders have people they want to be nice to also,” Eddington said. “So, unfortunately, their way of being nice to them results in property crimes to other people.”
In 2007, Evanston experienced a significant crime spike during the winter months, with 88 burglaries in December compared to only59 by March 2008, according to the EPD’s monthly crime reports.
Eddington also noted that the holiday season provides potential criminals with not only motive but also opportunity.
“More people (are) out of their homes shopping or attending parties,” he said. “There’s a vacancy that’s a little more frequent.”
Although the EPD will not attempt to prevent the trend, it is informing residents about the issue, Eddington said.
“We try to heighten the awareness of the public,” Eddington said. “They need to be more vigilant during this time of year. For instance, leaving your computer, cell phone, GPS in your car is just not a good idea.”
Beyond this, the EPD has published a guide on their Web site detailing the actions that citizens can take to secure their homes. In addition to simple actions like securing windows, locking cars and setting alarms, the guide encourages citizens to arrange for a “vacation watch” with the police or to set up their own neighborhood watch. The EPD even offers help and guidance to citizens forming such groups.
“We come out and give the information about how to coalesce their group,” said Cmdr. Tom Guenther.
After the basic information is disseminated, police continue to support the neighborhood watch groups. In addition to supplying residents with “Neighborhood Watch” signs, the city also provides “ongoing training,” Guenther said.
Some residents are joining together in unofficial ways as well.
Ben Schapiro and his neighbors in the 8th Ward, for instance, have created an e-mail listserv on which they can report any crime or suspicious activity.
“Almost everyone in an eight- or nine-block area has the e-mail address,” he said.
Schapiro also takes personal measures to prevent burglary.
“I’m normally more aware of who’s standing around me and where my bags are,” he said.
Despite all of these practices, many property crimes occur because of one action many people forget.
“An inordinate amount of burglaries in the home occur because of unlocked doors,” Eddington said.
The police department has a name for the set of actions that homeowners should take to make sure they are not victims of this year’s holiday crime spike.
“Target hardening,” Eddington said. “If you make it more difficult for your items to be taken, the offender will go away and bother somebody else.”
