So we got home to our little three-flat in the Wicker Park / Bucktown neighborhood last night to discover that burglars had broken in and made off with all kinds of goodies on Christmas night. They didn’t make it to the top floor, where I live, but they cleaned out the two units below me. The thief or thieves smashed a window of the garden apartment, then once inside, walked up the stairs of the common area and smashed the back inside window of the tenants on the second floor, and used a wrench to pry a flat-screen TV off the wall. The tenant of the garden apartment encountered a man carrying a box down the side of the house and was suspicious, but when he greeted her with “Merry Christmas” she assumed that he was a friend of one of the other tenants. This woman has lived in the apartment for 12 years and never had any problems; as the neighborhood has gentrified it has perhaps become more vulnerable to crime.
We spent last night in a daze, exchanging phone numbers with other residents of the building and meeting their boyfriends so that we would know what they looked like if we saw them around the place. The landlord is going to install bars on the garden apartment windows. The cops had already been and dusted for prints and apparently told our neighbors that several other houses on the street were also hit. Then my drycleaner told me that the owner of a boutique on Damen Avenue recently decided to shut shop after she was the victim of an armed robbery. Anyone else been the victim of a crime recently in Wicker Park / Bucktown?
Sad to say, but this is a common pattern with gentrifying neighborhoods.
As more affluent people move in, their homes become the local electronics superstore, with easy check-out and no hassle to buy an extended warranty.
Right. I forgot to mention that my drycleaner now keeps her door locked, and you have to buzz her to get in.
You’re friends aren’t out of the woods yet, make sure they are aware that the thieves will have an eye on their home once again when the insurance check arrives and they have have brand new stuff.
A security system might be a good investment at this point.
The main victim didn’t have renter’s insurance. Yes, we’ll have to think about security. Some people at work suggested small video cameras, either recording, or just as a deterrent. Anyone have any security suggestions? Is the onus on the tenant or the landlord to provide security beyond locks?
The appearance of a security system works just about as well as an actual security system, and is a lot cheaper.
Invest in some “window bugs” from a hardware store that make it look like you have a security system. Costs less than $100.
Most of the thieves are pure opportunists and don’t want any hassles. They move right along to the unprotected places.
Also, a motion-sensitive recording of a barking dog…or keeping the radio or TV on at a low sound level…both of which are used by friends of mine.
Joe- What are “window bugs”? The alarm company stickers or do they have lights or something?
Hermione- what did the police suggest as far as securing apartments?
Eric, I didn’t talk to the cops directly, but we’ll probably ask them for their suggestions based on what they know about crooks in the neighborhood.
Hermione-
My garden/1st floor Bucktown/Wicker Park apartment was broken into last fall.
The cops, unfortunatly, were not much help, instead of helping us they lectured us on having the incorrect address on our drivers licenses.
However, our neighbors who have lived in the neighborhood for 20+ years had a few pointers.
The biggest being-most robbers around there apartment watch, they sit on the corner or the sidewalk, generally unnoticable keeping an eye on the apartments and learning everyones routine. (I thought this was crazy-then after it happened I noticed these guys around all over the neighborhood-not as much this time of year though.) Their only advice on this was be aware of who is walking around your neighborhood and if you see suspicious behavior (i.e. the same strange looking guy sitting outside your house for several days) notify someone.
Other than that they’re just looking for easy ins. Open windows, unbared basement windows, etc. Through my experience and several other people in the neighborhood that have experienced the same thing-all the break ins I’ve heard of have been easy enterances like those listed above. You’re probably pretty safe on an upper floor-unless we have some slick wall climbers around robbing us.
It sounds like you’ve done all you can. It really comes down to very simple things. These burglers aren’t out to clean you out, they just want a few quickies they can take to the pawn shop down the street and they’re generally very careful that noone is home when the incident occurs.
Best of Luck.