Residents of the University’s Spencer View family housing complex who found themselves victims of a theft and crime spree early this month have mobilized to fight back.
A town meeting for residents “to discuss community safety” is scheduled at the Spencer View Community Room from 6-7 p.m. tonight. Representatives from the Eugene Police Department and the Department of Public Safety as well as housing staff will be in attendance to discuss solutions and theft prevention techniques.
Because crime in the area, located at E. 24th Ave. and Patterson St., is primarily theft it does little to mar the apartments almost idyllic appearance, psychology student Ariane Haase said.
On a sunny weekday evening colorful plastic toys sit on almost every porch and family gardens spill into planted flower beds. Children play in the common areas as the low golden sunlight filters through lush green trees. It’s deceiving, Haase said, because the community and the living environment is so nice that many residents don’t realize the amount of work needed to secure vehicles, bicycles and even the apartments themselves.
Haase has had her car broken into three times in two years, the last time was two weeks ago when the thieves actually stole the whole car. When she didn’t lock up the front tire of her bike it was stolen off her front porch.
“You wouldn’t expect that. Now when you leave you always lock everything, and that’s what we do. We go to the laundry room and lock all doors because we’re afraid that someone might come in,” she said.
Special Education graduate student Susan Buchert moved into the complex in the end of June. Since then, she said, every tenant on the ground floor of her building has been a victim of some theft. The last straw for Buchert came after her bicycle trailer that she used to transport her children was stolen in broad daylight with a lock in a fifteen-minute window while she was away.
“We’re a resource for stuff to pawn,” she said.
Buchert pointed out the EPD’s crime statistics showed a 100 percent spike in instances of car theft in the area encompassing Spencer View and a 97 percent increase in cases of reported theft between 2004 and 2005.
The residents’ demands are simple, doctorate student and resident Dena Luworo said; more patrols by DPS and enclosures to safeguard locked bicycles.
“We all got out here in our little group with the speakerphone on,” Buchert said, and they called DPS together.
Luworo said the officer provided little hope that patrols would be increased.
“We’re all listening to it and he was saying that right now they’re understaffed and they don’t have enough people but they’re trying to hire, blahty blahty blahty,” she said “Then they said they only have two people on patrol and they have to be on campus.”
When the neighbors called the Eugene police they found an equally chilly reception. A member of the force told them they would not be able to spare any patrols and discouraged the neighbors from filing any records to document the crimes.
“She told me that the phone calls are recorded so that’s the record,” Buchert said.
Sgt. Rich Stronach of the Eugene Police Department said the complex falls under the joint jurisdiction of EPD and DPS.
“It’s a satellite and kind of broken away from campus, so we share duties for that,” he said, but he doubted that any EPD officer would tell a resident that extra patrols were not feasible.
“I’m not going to say it didn’t occur, I just don’t know, but what would happen is that we would alert our patrol officers that there’s been an area of criminal activity and if they have extra time they would make patrols,” he said.
DPS Lt. of Operations, Herb Horner said the department had limited resources, but would redirect some public safety officers when the Westmoreland apartment complex leaves University jurisdiction in the next month.
The department had relatively few reports of crimes from the complex, but noted that an increase had already led to additional patrols and a crackdown on persons going through garbage and recycle containers, which he said is sometimes used as a ploy to scope out potential thefts.
Meanwhile the neighbors at Spencer View hope that they’ve made an impact.
“I don’t feel that I’m personally not safe, like someone is going to attack me,” Haase said. “I’m worried about coming home one day and finding everything gone.”
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Residents fed up with Spencer View thefts
Daily Emerald
August 14, 2006
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