Two high-profile crimes in Verona in the last two weeks have some residents wondering whether we are in the midst of a crime wave. The answer is, No, for all but one category of major crimes.
According to statistics provided by the Verona Police Department, motor vehicle burglaries have fallen to 20 from January 1 to October 1 of this year from 29 for the like period in 2022. Auto thefts have dropped to 33 for the period from January 1 to October 1 in 2023 from 40 for the like period in 2022. Attempted burglaries have fallen to six from 14, and attempted auto thefts have fallen to one from three last year.
Home burglaries are the one category that has seen an increase. There have been nine home burglaries through October 1 of this year, including the most recent one on Cambridge Road. That’s up from six for the same period in 2022.
Despite the overall drop in major crimes, the VPD has responded to 250 more calls for service this year than in 2022.
“People call for us more things than at any other time in my career,” says Chief Christopher Kiernan. “We perform more property checks, and things like checking interior lights on in cars.” There are also more reports of suspicious cars that turn out to not be so.
“Securing all doors is the single best deterrent,” Kiernan adds. “One hundred percent of last year’s stolen vehicles were due to fobs left inside. This year we do have actors entering homes for fobs, which is concerning. Locking doors and setting your alarms if you have them is a good start.”
UPDATE: Both sets of statistics are for comparable periods: January 1 to October 1 of the year in question. The story has been updated with that detail.
Can you clarify if the crime statistics cited represent the total from calendar year 2022 up this point (date of article published, in 2022) as compared to the current stats of 2023? Or are you comparing the crime stats of 2022 for the full calendar year to the stats of 2023 up until this point in the year? Given there are 2.5 months left in 2023, this seems like an important specification. Thank you.
Both sets of statistics are for comparable periods: January 1 to October 1 of the year in question. Adding that to the original story.