Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife

I've been getting a lot of e-mails this week about a crime spree in our neighborhood. It is cause for concern and a serious matter. But when I think about this criminal, I can't help but think of Antoine Dodson and this video (if you substitute "rape" for "rob". Sidenote: I'm very thankful there are no bed intruders in my neighborhood.).



In all seriousness, I'm hopeful that SPD will catch this guy very soon. If you live in our area, here are the details. I feel it's my civic duty to pass this along to neighbors and friends:

• There has been an increase in burglaries in District 5 since the end of 2010. Typically, residential burglaries are during the day, however, many of the recent incidents have been during the night or early morning hours (3 a.m. to 6 a.m.) when residents are at home. There are no suspects that the police have identified. They do not know who is committing these crimes. This is an out of the ordinary criminal(s). Most of the residential burglaries have been quick hits and the person gets in and out of a residence very quickly, grabbing whatever is accessible and visible from outside. Purses and cash are the common targets.
• The police asked that residents report any suspicious activity. For non-emergencies, first call 673-BLUE (673-2583). You should then call our Community Liaison Officer, Javon Tyler, at 673-6950 (office) or 402-3605 (cell).
• For reliable information, track criminal activity at the following site http://www.shreveportla.gov/dept/police/crimemaps/crimemap.html

 We hope you'll take the precautions recommended by the police department:

• If you have an alarm system, use it. Use it consistently.  
• Lock the doors to your home and vehicles, always. 
• Keep your draperies, shades and shutters closed, so that a person cannot look into your home and see your purse, car keys, etc.  
• Keep in touch with your neighbors. Let them know if you will be out of town and ask them to keep an eye on your home.  
• ALWAYS REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY. This was repeated several times. There are 500 members of the SPD and approximately 200,000 residents in Shreveport. The police need input from residents in order to prevent crimes and apprehend criminals.
• If someone comes to your door and asks for someone that does not live at your home or asks for directions, call the police. This is a typical tactic that a criminal may use to determine if anyone is at home.  
• Take note of descriptive details when you call the police to report something. For example, what does the suspicious person look like, what are they wearing, etc.

And in the meantime, maybe we should take Antoine's advice and "hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your purse, hide your car keys. They're robbing everybody up in here."