By Kody Acevedo
The city of Chandler is attempting to bring new meaning to the phrase “Gated Community.”
At least that’s what some residents are hoping for in a push to prevent the number of home and car burglaries from increasing in local neighborhoods.
Specifically, members of the Brooks Crossing community.
The block contained between Warner and Ray roads and between Dobson to Alma School roads is standing up to thieves entering their homes through the public alleyways behind their property lines.
“They’re the ones who raised the concern to see what could be done,” Chandler PD Sgt. Dave Uridge said at a community meeting, held at the department’s Desert Breeze substation.
“The community has the most power, the most eyes and the most resources. They are able to give us more so we can take enforcement action.”
According to Uridge, there have been 45 home and vehicle burglaries in Brooks Crossing since Jan. 1. In all, there have been 123 similar incidents in the surrounding areas.
“This seems like a lot,” Uridge said. “It is not. It is very low. It is consistent with the trends we have seen nationwide.”
According to the Chandler Police Department, these trends are decreasing both nationwide and in the city of Chandler.
“So that’s good news,” Uridge said. “Again, we can’t get rid of crime, but it’s something that we are trying to educate you on.”
Part of the education process is to hold meetings where both the police and the community can teach each other about solutions they believe will help make their homes safer. One idea, proposed by Chandler resident Elizabeth Reeves, is to put gates up in the alley ways to deter criminals from entering.
“One of the major problems is the fact that people are freely allowed to run up and down the alleys, and of course no one can see you in the alley,” Reeves said.
Reeves’ home in Brooks Crossing is backed up to one of the alleys she would like to see gated-off. According to her, neighbors with security cameras have caught criminals jumping the walls into backyards moments before their home was burglarized.
So, she took matters into her own hands.
She did a little research and discovered that Mesa started putting gates in alleys a few years ago. The deal in Mesa involves the homeowners being given keys to the alley in order to access their backyards, while members of the public are kept out.
Reeves wants a similar plan in her neighborhood. “Why can’t the city of Chandler implement what the city of Mesa has done?” Reeves said.
According to Mesa’s website, the goal of gating alleys is to “Provide residents with an alternative to maintaining a safer and better controlled alley. Gating the alley limits access to alleys with locked gates to reduce crime, noise, littering, illegal dumping and loitering.”
Chandler Transportation Engineer Mike Mah told the group that the community has done its part to raise awareness to the issue. Now, he said, it’s up to officials to act. “The ball is really in our court,” Mah said. (Which, technically speaking, means the city’s next move is talking to its legal teams about how they’ll get the ball rolling.)
Reeves said her goal is just to lend a helping hand to the hard-working officers that patrol her streets on a daily basis. “I have the highest respect for the Chandler police. I want to help them. I want to help the residents,” she said. For now, Sgt. Uridge said, taking the simplest measures to secure your home will go a long way in preventing a burglary.
“Locking your doors, being sure your lights outside work, making sure you don’t have overgrown bushes and trees in front of your windows, making sure your gate is locked…there are dozens and dozens of things you can do,” Uridge said.
“Is (the problem of home and car break-ins) going to go away? No, but, again, there are preventions you can take to reduce the likelihood.”
