Police:
Newport Beach homes were burglarized less than half as many times this year as they were by this time in 2007, statistics show.
Through the first four months of 2008, Newport Beach police have handled 59 residential burglary cases, or about 15 a month. By the end of April last year, police had 130 burglarized home cases on their hands.
“For the past 20 years that I have been employed [with the police], leaving doors and windows open and/or valuables unsecured has been the number-one reason for being victimized,†said Sgt. Evan Sailor. “We have been reaching out to the community to educate them on preventive methods. Our hope is that the message is being received and heeded, and hopefully that is one of the factors for the reduction in residential burglaries.â€
Police also credit an ever-increasing database of DNA samples identifying suspects and faster turnover on DNA results for nabbing repeat criminals.
JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].
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