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Mar 12, 2009 7:34 pm US/Central
FWPD Concerned About District 5 Crime Increase
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A big increase in certain crimes is forcing the Fort Worth Police Department to take a closer look at its strategy. The area in question stretches from far northeast to southeast Fort Worth.
It's a big enough worry for Fort Worth Councilmember Frank Moss that he brought it up before a major economy briefing at the city council conference room. Why, he asked, was burglary going up so much in the neighborhoods of District 5 that he presides over?
You can ask just about anyone in the areas bordering Lancaster, near East Loop 820, if they're affected by the crimes and most will say yes.
"They stole all the wires, we had to get the wiring redone and the water heater and in the back, back there, somebody had come in and so they boarded up all the windows to stop people from coming in," said Jacqueline Cavanaugh.
The threat of burglary was somewhat obvious. The home's owner even let Cavanaugh rent the house without a deposit, to entice her to move in.
"We watch these houses like hawks," said Darrell O'Neill who lives a block down from Cavanaugh. "We're up all hours of the night trying to keep an eye on things around here. I still got to get up and go to work in the morning but every little noise you're up and going out the window looking."
According to police numbers, burglaries are up 30-percent n District 5 over January of last year. Eighteen percent of all the city's burglaries happened in that district in January, according to a monthly police report prepared for the city council.
"They don't want to get out and work and earn what they want," said Marie Reed, who said she watches people loitering in her neighborhood daily. "They want to go steal everybody else's that worked for what they have and you really get fed up with it."
"It makes me feel real bad," said Luis Chavarria, who had a stereo and tools stolen from his property. "We work too hard for the things we have, no?"
The police chief said his responses to the concerns are in the crime report.
The report said, in part - "In an effort to decrease this trend, Patrol and Zero Tolerance officers have begun providing high saturation patrols in the neighborhoods. These patrols consist of high intensity traffic enforcement, pedestrian contacts, field interviews documenting any suspicious activity and persons, combined with targeted surveillance looking for daytime prowlers."
Police remind people to lock doors and windows, keep garage doors closed and leave a radio or television on in your home when you leave.
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