West Asheville fighting crime through Facebook – Asheville Citizen
July 31, 2011 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
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“My reaction was to get two dogs, a home security system, camera on my porch, a permitted weapon and a black belt in martial arts,” Turner wrote on Facebook. “I encourage others do the same. I can help with self-defense lessons.”
Note to self: Do not mess with Sage Turner!
I don’t want to paint a picture of criminal mayhem in West Asheville. I talked to a few West Asheville residents who said despite the recent crimes, it’s still a very safe place to live.
“I can leave my doors unlocked,” said Elaine Hall, who’s lived on the same street for 22 years. “I’ve never had a problem.”
Sometimes Hall returns from work early in the morning, and she’s seen police on patrol on nearby Burton Street.
Councilman Gordon Smith, a West Asheville resident since 2000, said he never locked his doors — until last week. About 11 a.m. Monday, a neighbor spotted two men lurking outside his home.
They fit the description of those involved in some of the crimes. When the neighbor alerted Smith that his home was being cased, he called the police.
He locks the place up now.
“I didn’t even know where the house keys were,” Smith said. “Now, I’m taking the precautions the police have been urging everyone to take.”
Smith said he doesn’t know anyone “outside of Manhattan” who’s militant about locking doors, even when they’re home.
Obviously, he’s never met my wife, but I understand what he means.
Smith doesn’t think residents were complacent, necessarily, but maybe a little too easygoing about the potential of crime. Smith wasn’t critical of the police, but he said the Facebook page certainly serves as a
wake-up call to everyone that this is a real problem and people want real action.
Personally, I did find the police department’s response to these break-ins a little, well, goofy.
Lt. Wally Welch said they didn’t initially tie the six crimes together because “the pattern wasn’t initially clear,” as the crimes occurred over a matter of weeks. The investigation also has been stalled by witnesses who at times were uncooperative.
I’m no crime analyst, but it seems to me if you’ve got even two crimes in which criminals are breaking into homes and displaying handguns, that’s a pretty good pattern — and reason to get the word out, loud and clear to lock your doors and be on the lookout.
Turner put it better than I can: “I would hope they want to help, and calling victims uncooperative seems like it’s not going to help anybody,” she said.
Hall had no harsh words for police, giving them credit for helping clean up the open air drug markets that plagued the Burton Street area for years.
“I think the police are doing the best they can,” she said. “They do a terrific job.”
They better keep it up. A pretty huge group on Facebook has their eye on them.
