Some residents of the Anatolia/SunRidge neighborhood of Rancho Cordova are concerned that there has been a recent increase in crime. With five home burglaries in the past week they have reason to be alarmed. The Rancho Cordova Post investigated to uncover the facts and reveal more information about the true nature of the suspected rash of home burglaries. Here’s what we found out.
We spoke to Rancho Cordova Police Detective Sergeant Pete James to get actual crime statistics for the past three months starting November 1, 2009. Overall the crime statistics year over year for the period are almost flat. In the 3 month period from November 1st to February 8th the total number of crimes rose 1 from 26 to 27 in 2008/09 to 2009/10 respectively. The reporting covers crimes of burglary, larceny, simple assault, and vandalism only in the Anatolia/SunRidge neighborhoods.
Residential home burglaries are up in the period however. Police reports indicate 13 home burglaries in 2009/10 versus 9 in 2008/09 during the same period. The Anatolia/SunRidge neighborhoods in Rancho Cordova have experienced 5 home burglaries during the week of February 1st-7th. Of the most recent residential burglaries, Tuesday and Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. seem to the most prevalent days and times, with 5 and 3 burglaries respectively.
Rear window smashes are the most often seen method of entry (4) however there was also one front window smash. Front door kick or body force was seen twice and 4 burglaries were some form of non-force whether through the front door, side garage door or unknown means. These statistics reflect facts and figures from official crime reports and information received by in vehicle police CAD systems. They include reports of attempted burglaries even if no property was actually stolen during the attempt.
Graphic Courtesy Washington Post
The Rancho Cordova Post has obtained some suspect information based on police reports. It’s important to point out that there is no uniformity in the suspect descriptions. All of these incidents were reported in the Anatolia/SunRidge neighborhoods. Due to ongoing criminal investigations some specific location and incident information is omitted.
- Wednesday, December 30, 2009 – several White or Hispanic Juveniles were seen carrying boxes from a house at approximately 2 p.m. The power was shut off by suspects.
- Friday, January 15th – at approximately 11:20 a.m. three suspects were seen breaking into a house. The suspects rang the doorbell and then entered the backyard and smashed the slider. Suspect 1 is an Asian Female Adult, 19-21 years of age, 5’ 130 lbs, wearing a dark hoody, Suspect 2 is an Asian Male Adult, 19-21 years of age, 5’5” 130 lbs wearing a dark hoody, and Suspect 3 is an Asian Male Adult 19-21 years of age, 5’ 130 lbs, wearing a dark sweater.
- Tuesday, February 2nd – at about 10:15 a.m., a mixed race possibly Hispanic and Asian male, 18-25 years of age, 5’5” in a puffy jacket with a fur collar was seen at a burglary. He rang the door bell and then went into the backyard where he was seen by the complainant.
- Wednesday, February 3rd – a Black Male Adult wearing all black with his faced covered was seen. Entry was made by breaking a front dining room window.
- Thursday, February 4th – an Hispanic Male Adult, 35 years of age, 5’6” 140-160 lbs pounded of the front door. When the complainant didn’t answer the subject tried to ram the door with his body.
The profile of burglars in the Rancho Cordova area over the past year have been males 15-24 year of age, of Caucasian or African-American race and usually the burglar lives with 1/2 mile of the home or business, according to Detective James. There is strong evidence that home alarm systems deter burglaries. According to the Rancho Cordova Police Department, 20% of the homes within the City have home alarm systems. Of the burglaries reported in the past year only 3% were homes with alarm systems.
In addition to home burglaries we also looked at burglaries from vehicles. Although burglaries from vehicles are down year over year in the 3 month period from 8 to 6, catalytic converter thefts continue to be a favorite target. Thieves are targeting Toyota trucks predominately for two reasons. “First, the trucks are raised off the ground making them easier to get under and second the catalytic converters are bolted on rather than welded to the body making them easier to remove. We recommend locking your vehicle if parked on the street or parking in a garage if possible,” said Detective James.
The Rancho Cordova Police Department would like the residents of the Anatolia/SunRidge neighborhoods to know that they have identified the problem of home and vehicle burglaries and are actively investigating and working to arrest the suspects. In light of the recent burglaries the Rancho Cordova Police Department has some crime prevention tips for all residents:
- Be sure to call in any suspicious activity. Non-emergency reports can be called in to (916) 875-9602 or filed online through the Sacramento County Sheriff’s online reporting system.
- Become a hard target – get and use a home alarm system, close and lock doors and windows, lock exterior power panels and side yard fences, and park your vehicle in a garage.
- Join a Neighborhood Watch. There are zone meetings for every neighborhood and a multitude of resources on the RCPD website.
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{ 12 comments }
Funny how even though crime is up in Anatolia, cops are only out there to give stop sign tickets. Rancho Cordova PD needs a serious overhaul in agenda and leadership.
RCP, can you align with neighborhood watch groups, police reports and post the names, addresses, pictures, details etc of people caught? Its always about people comitting crimes rarely about those caught. Seem like theres nothing but crimes taking place in Anatolia and nobody getting caught.
Gary, thank you for your comment. Generally, we have police reports available in order to report on crimes committed. We also have court records to report on suspects convicted and sentenced. It’s difficult however to report on suspects caught unless there is a major police action we’re aware of. Many times suspects are arrested based on detective work of which there is little documentation for us to report on unless we ask the Police Department to compile statistics. I’ll also add that the Police Department is reluctant to comment on an ongoing investigation as it may taint the evidence used for conviction. I’m open to suggestions and welcome the dialog though.
Thank you Geoffrey. RCP reports crime statiscials week after week but rarely on suspects convicted and sentenced. I understand its premature to report on suspects caught, but reporting on suspects convicted and sentenced would be a little more positive crime report than just reporting of crimes.
We’re always interested in having Community Contributors submit articles for publication. I’d encourage you to provide us coverage of suspects convicted and sentenced. I think our readers would find it interesting.
RCP could you please review the Mather crime stats as well. Thank you.
Tim, we’ll see if we can include some of Mather’s crime stats in the future. Thanks for the suggestion.
In case RCP hasn’t seen other newspapers crime reports heres one from Brentwood http://www.westsidetoday.com/m3-2199/brentwood-crime-update-for.html. I think this is little better than RCP’s in that RCP uses picture of burglar breaking in and other scare tactics while publicizing what looks like a rampant crime spree in RC as much worse than it is. Brentwood’s is just a plain old text file report probably directly from their police dept. I think this is less negative than RCP’s. I like to see RCP post crime reports in such a way it doesn’t portray RC as crime ridden town while at the same time informing the residents to be cautious about the issues taking place.
Gary, we post weekly crime reports directly from police reports. They are available under the Public Safety category and include both Rancho Cordova and Citrus Heights. This article was a special report on the past 3 months in response to heightened concerns by local residents. It was not meant as a scare tactic or negative portrayal of the city. In fact, the statistics show that crime overall is not increasing.
What we need is a stronger police presence and a strong community watch with people that are actually active in it’s enforcement. Neighbors need to start watching out for neighbors. The people committing these crimes shouldn’t be able to walk out of your front door with your property. Let’s make everything harder for these thieves to do this, we should all feel safe in our homes. Lock that back gate, put up window coverings, secure all entries, meet your neighbors, make sure your alarm companies have up to date contact info, etc… These people don’t live in our community, so we should be able to know who does and does not belong in our area.
Statistically, thieves are local residents living right next door to you. Its also fair to say most of them are in their mid to late teens to early to mid 20s, males. Thieves are not walking around wearing t-shirts announcing their thieves. Its those with darting eyes acting suspiciously. I did see a police car drive by my neighborhood for the first time in four years. They should make their presence felt by pulling over all those cars that make rolling stops or completely running the stop sign altogether.
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