Scary Times

I signed up to a local neighbourhood crime watch Facebook page and it's become something of a double-edged sword. It's helpful to know about crimes and we can all keep a watch for each other, and we also post about lost dogs and street lights and other things. But knowing about all the crime can also be unnerving and most unsettling has been the realisation that police are too swamped to deal with non emergencies and even if they do arrest someone that person gets off.

There are three brothers (in their twenties) that live one street up from us that have crime sheets as long as my arm. All of them have been done recently for burglaries in the area. Our neighbours caught one of them trying to steal their car last week and got him arrested. But none of them are in jail. I don't get it. A comment was made on the Facebook page that police are asking neighbourhood watch groups to help, because they can't do anything. Help? Help how? I think we all saw what happened when an overzealous neighbourhood watchman goes after someone (Zimmerman & Martin). It's all a bit worrying. Craig and I drove past their house a couple of times today and it has a realtor sign outside saying "Sale Pending". Maybe they lost the house, but they still list it as their home when they get arrested (we've seen the charge sheets online). Maybe they are squatting there. A friend who lives near them is going to keep an eye on the place to see if they are in there. Another friend who lives alone is quite rightly frightened. Maybe this is what the police meant - keep the pressure on the criminals and be watchful.

In the meantime, we are extra careful about home security. And it helps having a dog it really does.

Maybe we should get another dog. Ben would like that a lot.