Dear Mrs. Goldman, I would like to thank Highland Park for allowing me to participate in the e-mail communication. During the meeting, Detective Marks mentioned that there were suspects in some of the cases. Burglary Squad is working to building those cases and make arrests so that your neighborhood is safe. I hope that Burglary Detectives will be invited to attend the next meeting and update you on the progress that has been made. I agree, it is our responsibility to solve the reported crimes but I hope that we can continue to work together to identify those responsible and keep the neighborhood safe. Thanks, Commander Thomas Stangrecki Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Major Crimes 1203 Western Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15233 (412) 323-7800 ________________________________ From: neighborhood-bounces@highlandparkpa.com [mailto:neighborhood-bounces@highlandparkpa.com] On Behalf Of Sherry Goldman Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 11:31 AM To: Highland Park Subject: [Highland Park] Break-ins and community meeting My husband and I missed the beginning of the community meeting last Thursday as we didn't get off work until 7:00 pm. Was anything said about what is being done about the break-ins and what leads they have? I was really disappointed that all that was said (when I was there) was what the victims are supposed to do. These are all common sense things, but I don't believe the onus should be on the innocent. Besides, many of the thefts are forced entry, even with burglar alarms. We asked if this was an excessive amount of breakins, but the police said it is average. With all of the posts about this, plus the fact we were were broken into twice in 8 days (after 35 years here without incident) makes it seem to me that this amount of crime is unusual. These people that are burglarizing our cars and homes are violating OUR boundaries and our neighborhood will only be safe when THEY are stopped and removed. What is being done about the root problem of drugs as well? I think Jonathan and Amy had a terrific idea about the community gathering the data to help the police, but ultimately it is the police's responsibility to keep us safe-- not OUR responsibiity to live in fortresses. This diminishes quality of life. I am very anxious about summer coming because we do not have whole-house air-conditioning (nor do we WANT it because we WANT circulating fresh air in our home). We need to leave our big box fans in the window day and night so our house doesn't turn into an oven (and our animals won't suffocate as well). I only hope that the motion detectors from our new burglar system will stop them. Sherry and Marty