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[Up_the_Stox]

My home was burglarized on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.  This is the third instance of property crime I've encountered in my two years in town.  Last October, my car was stolen.  In January, my wife's car was broken into and looted.  This time, they came into my house when I was sleeping. 

I'm in what I would consider a nicer part of Sharon (near the abandoned elementary school... like I said, new to the area, don't know the name).  Unfortunately, we're located between two dumps (Farrell and everything east of Stambaugh)...  yet somehow, the only times I see police in our area is when one happens to be parked outside of his own house at lunch time.

When we called the police, we were met with a 10 minute response time.  To some, that might be acceptable.  Not to me.  When the officer calmed me down slightly, I was informed that at any given time, there are only FOUR officers on duty in Sharon... and they "don't have the time to patrol the neighborhoods."  Why do they always seem to "have time" to watch for simple traffic violations?

More police, more streetlights, and more community involvement, or watch this valley fall further apart.

[CindyLouWho]

What are FOUR officers doing all night long that one or two of them can't cruise around and keep their eyes peeled for this kind of thing?

[NightmarePatrol]

A ten minute response isn't bad really. I've waited over an hour for the cops before. Typically from what I understand the standard for immediate response is when a life is at risk.

And... welcome to the site.

[Up_the_Stox]

Being originally from Pittsburgh (having spent a few years in some of the worst neighborhoods in the city), I guess I'm used to 2-3 minute response times.  I can give a pass based on how the budget handcuffs the Sharon police.

As for what the police are doing at night, I've generally witnessed them sitting (two cars at a time) on Divison St, watching for revenue producing crime (speeding, blowing stop signs, etc).  I'm scared to death of the proposition to get rid of street lights.

Thanks for the welcome... glad I found somewhere to vent.

[beanie]

Four police officers on patrol? That seems low. My employer has at least two officers on patrol at all times (they're not security guards, either, they are actual police officers), and we only take up a handful of city blocks. Does Sharon have a high crime rate relative to the size of the town?

[Up_the_Stox]

I can't speak to numbers, only personal experience, but I know I wouldn't walk in certain parts of town after dark.

[Lifetime]

I feel bad for your loss but some questions came to mind when I read your post. I will ask but if you don't want to answer...not a problem.
 
Where did you reside before moving there 2 years ago? I can figure where you live by police reports and it was a nice area compared to most.
 
In all of these incidents.... was your home secure...doors locked and windows closed on the first floor?
 
Were your vehicles LOCKED up?
 
Affluence and "Good Neighborhoods" do not preclude crime. Example....
 
I had a family member move out of our neighborhood because of crime and undesirables.... although he was not really a victim of anything other than some vandalism. He moved to South Py "because" of the low or nill crime rate. Well he bought his home and bought an adjacent home as well. Shortly after.... this other home was visited by some guys who took a liking to the copper pipes and wires and emptied the heating oil tank on the floor of the basement as well. He has had a Ski-doo seat stolen off his RV and had a fire that took the Fire dept. a while to respond to due to location. Hmmm Grass not so green I guess..
 
I live in a not so nice area of Sharon. I have lived and raised a family in this home since 1971 and was raised in a home not a block away. I keep my vehicles locked, first floor windows locked and doors locked... regardless of being home or not. I learned many years ago in the military... we had to lock our vehicles and our lockers. If we were robbed and it was found we didn't secure our possessions and were victimized...we paid a $300 fine for stupidity... talk about insult added to injury.
 
Now, I am not saying I haven't had a theft. I had the tailgate stolen off my truck. I found out that if you know how..it can be removed in seconds and I never thought...tailgate     Well I called the police but wasn't worth a call to the Ins. Co. I called several Salvage yards and through them and the police.... it seems there was a rash of tailgate thefts in our area. We were "shopped". They later found out...it was a group out of Youngstown who did this...not Sharon/Farrell.
 
My points are... those cockroaches who travel your neighborhood are not necessarily from here. Affluence and location does not offer safety. Maddoff stole the lives from people and left them breathing with NOTHING.
 
I have to wonder how much homework you did prior to your move there. Sharon had a crime problem long before those 2 years.
 
Unlocked homes,vehicles, and open windows are an open invite for these types of people. We can have 100 police but in the end...they can only write a report and investigate AFTERWARDS. Thankfully you were not physically harmed. In the end, YOU have to take responsibility for your safety, anywhere you or your family are.... be that at home or elsewhere. You have to be aware of the world around you... at home, on your block or the parking lot at Wally World. We have to learn to secure our lives and possessions.... if you don't... you become a meal for the animals. Maybe it would be different if you were a multi millionaire and could afford bodyguards and private guards but, I think that is not the case as you live in our area. Our first line of defense is US. It is the world we live in....no matter where we seem to hang our hat. We just have to be more observant. I know this isn't the world we grew up in or our parents either but.... I don't want outhouses, hand waterpumps or 3 channels on my TV anymore. As we aquire "STUFF" we have to secure it.
 
So, again, I am happy you and your family were physically safe, but don't judge the place you live in or the safety forces to quickly. Remember your first line of defense and security is you. Be well.
 
 
 
 

I can't speak to numbers, only personal experience, but I know I wouldn't walk in certain parts of town after dark.

[Lifetime]

I will say our crime rate has gone up.... be it economic reasons or bad guys more able to travel.
 
I have come to see this... it isn't that we don't have the police but what we lack is citizens who would assist with information. Many of the things that do go on and are seen by many are "witnessed' by few if any. Sometimes we create the "nourishing petri dish" in which to allow this disease to grow.
 
We had neighborhood watch programs that seem to fizzle quickly. I find it interesting that they find people interested in the Neighbor Hood Watch program but soon find that since all "neighbors" are encouraged to attend and set up...so are the ones who create the fiasco. Can make you nervous I guess when you sit in the meeting next to some of those causeing the problems in the first place.      We also had Weed And Seed but our GREAT GOVERNOR RENDELL cut that budget all to hell. Add to that...the budget problems our municipalities either can't or won't address and we have what we have.
 
 
 
 

Four police officers on patrol? That seems low. My employer has at least two officers on patrol at all times (they're not security guards, either, they are actual police officers), and we only take up a handful of city blocks. Does Sharon have a high crime rate relative to the size of the town?

[Puffin]

  This is the third instance of property crime I've encountered in my two years in town.  Last October, my car was stolen.  In January, my wife's car was broken into and looted.  This time, they came into my house when I was sleeping. 

do you have a dog? deadbolt?

[Jayhawk]

4 cops on patrol is probably typical, and 10 mins response time for a crime not in progress is actually pretty good. If it was in progress and you indicated so, it wouldn't have been 10 mins; i've seem 'em fly frequently.

Keep in mind that the pa. state police sometimes have as few as 2 cruisers on duty to patrol all rural areas of mercer county, so they could be 25 miles from where they are needed at any time.

i'm with lifetime in saying prevention starts with locked doors and cars and neighborhood awareness, and that 100 cops won't prevent many crimes of opportunity.

sharon police generally are not known for things like speed traps because, frankly, they have enough calls to keep busy. Even if constantly on patrol, 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 cops can't be in every nook and cranny of a several-square-mile city and simply are not going to give you the every-hour-on-the-hour rounds that a private security guard can on a few acres of a private business or industry.

[Jayhawk]

This is ironic. I'm sitting on the deck and just looked up so see a sharon police cruiser calming driving down my side street in hermitage, which is a few blocks beyond the sharon line.

That's one more than the number of hermitage cruisers i've seen go by today. See? They do patrols.

[Lifetime]

Hmmmm wonder what happened to " Up_the_Stox " ? 

[Lifetime]

His name is Adam and Joe Biro, on WPIC, has been talking about him and his remarks this morning. Maybe Adam is sitting and looking at what he could have done to secure his kingdom. He lost $3000 worth of electronics and God knows what else.... I seem to think he should look at people he has had in his home..... they seemed to know what to go for. Sometimes our worst enemy/weakest link, faces us in front of a mirror.
 
Now he has been in the Herald.... on the forums and even radio.... Who else did he contact on this problem and am feeling he hasn't heard what he wants to hear yet. IMHO
 
 
 
 
 

...Maybe he moved to Farrell... ...

[Amidala]

If he can afford expensive electronics, he can afford a few motion detectors, a simple security system.

[NightmarePatrol]

It's hard to say what he can or can't afford just by what he has or had without knowing all the circumstances. Could be he didn't get around to it yet, or if he is living in a rental the landlord may not want it installed or it would possibly breach the lease agreement regarding property modifications.  If it's a short term rental for him then he certainly would not want ADT another company like that where you get locked into a 2 year contract you can't ever get out of.

Hope he comes back regardless.