A Tucson neighborhood is experiencing more crime than usual. In the past week, the northwest quadrant of the Palo Verde neighborhood residents were the victims of two vehicle thefts, two home burglaries, and multiple larcenies.
The Palo Verde Neighborhood Association President Ronni Kotwica explained since the weather is getting cooler, people are leaving their doors and windows unlocked, therefore making their homes easier targets for crimes.
"It's that time of the year, where the weather is nice," she said. "People are leaving their windows and doors open, and are in a hurry to get out."
But as the president of the neighborhood association, she could not stress how important it is to keep homes and cars secure.
"You've got to lock everything up. You've got to secure everything," Kotwica said. "You've got to lock your gates, you've got to lock your windows, you've got to lock your doors. Anything that is a soft area to get in, you have to make sure it's secured."
The phrase she wants her neighbors to remember: "harden the target." She's also encouraging people to increase security however they can, from more fencing to alarm systems, to better locks.
"Deadbolts, the flip locks on the windows so they can't pry a window and push it back," she explained.
When it comes to keeping cars safe from break ins, Kotwica believes there are a lot of things people can do to deter someone from breaking in.
"Park up as close as you can to your home, and take everything out of your car," she said. "If they're going to look into your car and they're going to see a club on there, they're going to go to the next car that doesn't have anything."
Moving forward, she is hoping this recent chain of events can be a reminder to the various local neighborhood watches to look out for the community, and help each other out.
