Police Chief William Lansdowne, District 3 City Councilmember Toni Atkins and Western Division police officers hosted a public safety meeting last week to discuss a surge in North Park residential burglaries.

Concerned citizens gathered Wednesday, March 5, at the North Park Recreation Center to learn more about the police response to 30 residential burglaries in February, nearly double the number reported in January.

According to the Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJI), in January, 16 residential burglaries were reported. July 2007 through December 2007, an average of 17 residential burglaries was reported each month.

“We’re here because there have been a lot of … residential burglaries – a lot of things going on, and I thought it was time that we came back out with the police to update you,” Atkins said to a crowd of more than 50 residents and local news media.

Atkins, Lansdowne and Western Division officers offered insight to the department’s response to the crimes, and crime prevention tips.

Sgt. Misty Cedrun who is assigned to the Western Division’s street crimes unit, said the area between University Avenue and Juniper Street west of 29th Street and east of I-805 has seen the largest increase in crimes.

“My squad was starting to pick up two or three residential burglaries [per week] in this very interesting, tight area,” Cedrun said.

Looking over the reports in that area, Cedrun found several patterns.

The majority of the burglaries occurred Tuesdays through Thursdays, frequently at the peak of the day, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Cedrun said. 75 percent of the targets were single-family, one-story homes; 92 percent of the suspects entered at the ground level, 38 percent went through windows and 52 percent entered through a door. Cedrun said 44 percent went through the rear door, 29 percent through the front door and 17 percent through a side door.

Once patterns were established, Cedrun assigned her squad to increase visibility in the neighborhood.

“We basically tried to maintain as high a visible presence as possible,” Cedrun said.

Cedrun also requested several officers conduct more covert work in the area.

“We knew that high visibility was a great way to attack it, but we needed to do some undercover work,” said the officer, whose unit also informed neighbors of the crimes.

Capturing the suspects, however, was difficult. Police had limited information, and descriptions were vague. Cedrun said suspects were described as a black male and Hispanic male, two black males, a black male, and a black female.

Eight suspects have been arrested. Cedrun described a few of the attempts and arrests.

One suspect knocked on a resident’s front door and said he was lost and asked for directions. The resident, a victim of a previous burglary, opened the door and took a picture of the suspect with his cell phone. The suspect fled. The resident downloaded the picture and sent it to police and neighbors. The next day, after two residents called to report sightings, police arrested the suspect as he attempted to break into another home.

Residents’ efforts resulted in the arrests so far, Cedrun said.

“It’s by your efforts,” she said. “You helped get eight people in custody. We just happened to be there to scoop them up. So thank you for the work that you do.”

Officer Linda Lafond, in charge of the Western Division’s neighborhood watch program, discussed ways residents can protect themselves from becoming victims.

One safety tip, she said, is to lock all doors and windows.

“One of the problems is that people aren’t locking doors, they’re not locking windows … I’m always arguing with my son because he won’t lock the door of my house,” said Captain Bill Edwards.

Another way for residents to protect themselves is to be informed when crime occurs in their neighborhood.

A free, automatic e-mail program called Neighborhood eWatch (apps.sandiego.gov/ewatch/begin.jsp) notifies subscribers when a crime occurs in any San Diego City neighborhood, said Lafond.

Starting or joining a neighborhood watch is another way to stay alert. The western division neighborhood watch meets the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m.

Another helpful prevention tip, Lafond said, is to know neighbors.

“If you do not know your neighbors by the end of this week, go introduce yourself to the person across the street, the person behind you and the neighbors on both sides of you. You don’t have to invite them in for coffee, but you should be aware of who they are, so you can spot suspicious activity and call the police when you need to,” she said.