This summer, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of daytime burglaries in New Berlin, mostly east of Calhoun Road as far north as Greenfield Avenue, and as far south as the subdivisions around Grange and Sunnyslope. There seems to be several groups working in the area. One burglary ring was captured in July but several others are still active. Many of these burglaries are occurring when most people are at work, between 9am and 4 pm. We have found the majority are occurring between noon and 3pm.
A common tactic used by most of these groups is that one or two people get dropped off on foot to walk around a neighborhood while another member of the group acts as the driver/lookout/pickup person. The burglars may be knocking on doors of houses that look empty during the day and if no one answers, they usually walk around to a secluded area of the house and kick in a door or enter an unlocked door or window. We find they are taking cash, jewelry, small electronics, and prescription opiates, such as Oxycontin, Percocet or Oxycodone. They usually stuff whatever they find in pillowcase or backpack and exit the house, possibly calling their getaway driver via cell phone to arrange a pick up location. In the instances where they knock on the door and someone answers, they are usually making up stories about home improvement services they are offering or similar made up stories. If they find someone home, they want to get out of there as soon as possible, without trying to arouse too much suspicion.
We are asking residents who are home during the day to be extra vigilant, looking for vehicles driving around the neighborhood that don't belong in the area. We are also asking you to look out for people walking around the neighborhood that don't look familiar. If someone comes to your door for anything, ask for identification, company credentials, business cards or any type of proof that they are actually representing who they claim to be working for. Trust your gut instinct and if something doesn't seem right, PLEASE CALL US IMMEDIATELY AT (262) 782-6640!
The best type of information you can give us is LICENSE PLATE NUMBERS. This information is tangible and can be easily followed up on. The next best information is a good vehicle description, including make, model, age, color and any other identifying features of that particular vehicle, such as bumper stickers, damage, rust, or after market add-ons. When describing people, we need to know sex, race, height and weight, hair and eye color, a good description of their clothing and any other identifying features, such as facial hair, scars, accents or tattoos.
After a couple of recent news stories on this crime wave we have gotten numerous calls about suspicious things that happened last week or last month. We are not readily able to follow up on that type of information, unless you have a license plate number, so remember to call things in as soon as you see them. Remember to lock your doors when you leave your house, and don't leave the types of items mentioned above lying around in plain sight throughout your home and please, LOOK OUT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS!
