APD: Burglaries up, residents can help

The bad news: Burglaries are up in the City of Auburn. The good news: Residents can help.

That’s the message Auburn police Capt. Tom Stofer wants to get across.

Reports of burglaries of residences have been higher recently than this time last year, he said.

“It’s a noticeable increase and one we want to look at,” Stofer said.

The spike in reports is most noticeable at trailer parks and apartment complexes, but single-family home burglaries are up, too, he said.

Stofer said he thinks it’s a national trend, which could be caused by the economic situation, people looking for cash for the approaching holidays, or feeding drug habits.

“At this time, we can’t put our finger on one reason for Auburn,” Stofer said. “But the fact is they’re up, and we need to get a handle on it.”

In order to do that, police are increasing patrols and taking other steps, he said. Residents can do a lot to help police, too.

“We want to get people in the habit of being nosy neighbors,” Stofer said. “If they get the slightest inkling that something’s out of place… we want to get people to call us.”

Safety is everyone’s business and people shouldn’t be worried about calling police to come to the house, he said.

“We’d much rather that than the homeowners come home and find out their home’s been burglarized,” Stofer said.

Residents can also request police make special checks on their homes while the owners are on vacation.

Another free service is to ask police do an analysis on a residence to point out things residents can do to make their homes safer and less of a target to burglars, he said.

For more information, call the Auburn Police Division at 501-3100 or 501-3150.