Gilroy residents fed up with crime
Gilroy’s 10 percent increase in theft-type crimes since last year has left residents shaken and angry.
Comparing the time span between Jan. 1, 2007 and Feb. 24, 2007 to the same time period of 2008, police have seen a spike in thefts – residential, auto, petty, grand and others, Sgt. Jim Gillio said. Despite fluctuations in crime that go through cycles of highs and lows every year, Gilroy residents are starting to say “enough is enough.”
In February, two homes were burglarized and ransacked on tree-lined Miller Avenue within a block of each other, only 10 days apart. A home was broken into near the corner of Miller and Third Street mid-morning Feb. 17. In broad daylight, the back door was forced open with a crowbar that was left discarded in the victims’ pillaged home. Stepping out for only about an hour to run to the store, the victims returned to discover that about $3,000 in money and jewelry had been taken, including an 80-year-old wedding ring, a family heirloom.
“It was a keepsake,” one of the victims said, shaking her head. She asked that her name not be used for privacy reasons. “What really bothers me is that someone was in my home. It’s an invasion of privacy.” The thief, or thieves, tracked mud all over her meticulously clean home, overturned dresser drawers and emptied closets.
“I’m just glad it happened when I wasn’t home,” she said. “I feel safe here,” she said, then paused to correct herself. “I felt safe, but I don’t know any longer.” Just a month earlier, tools had been stolen from her carport.
Only a block away, another residence had been burglarized less than two weeks before. After the entire house was trashed and $10,000 worth of cash, credit cards and other valuables was taken, one of the victim’s credit cards was used at a nearby Safeway to purchase hundreds of dollars in gift cards.
Over the last year, the homeowner has reported many incidences of vandalism, theft, and harassment to the police. His truck, trailer and a low wall bordering the front of his property have been tagged multiple times with gang symbols, he said. Each time, he removes or covers the graffiti, but it keeps coming back, he said. His yard has been urinated in and littered with garbage, the windows to his garage smashed and now his home robbed and vandalized. Only a day after his home was burglarized, he came home from work early to find two young males perched on the wall in front of his house.
“Why aren’t these kids in school?” he asked, exasperated. He discovered that the two young men were acting as lookouts while an accomplice was working to steal a stereo out of a neighbor’s vehicle that was parked in the alley running behind the row of houses facing Miller.
Just days ago, he awoke to find his flower pots scattered all over the front yard. “Things like that aren’t major,” he said. “But I work hard for my money and I don’t need some punk drawing all over my brand new trailer.” He said he reports every incident, no matter how small, to the Gilroy Police Department.
That’s just the thing to do, Gillio said. “The best thing to do is call the GPD. Smaller things might be part of a bigger picture. There’s not any one neighborhood that’s impervious.” The police are responding to the increase in thefts by stepping up patrols and being extra vigilant, stopping people that look suspicious, Gillio added.
The thefts are not contained to the neighborhood surrounding the recently burglarized homes, either. Associate Pastor at South Valley Community Church, Greg Quirke reported about half a dozen auto burglaries in his church’s parking lot alone over the last few months. Back in October, members of the congregation were reporting their car windows had been smashed and belongings stolen while they were in church. It happened enough to warrant putting a warning to churchgoers in the weekly bulletin. Church staff rallied with parishioners and formed a volunteer group to patrol the parking lot during services.
The patrols worked for a while, Quirke said, but the crime began escalating again two weeks ago when an adolescent boy was harassed by two men in a vehicle with no license plate while walking to church. The men tried to coerce the boy to come with them in the car and the boy resisted, running into the church.
“We are committed to providing the safest environment for our congregation,” Quirke said. “Our security teams have been our best deterrent.” Additionally, the police told Quirke that they were attempting to beef up patrols in the area. Still, the church is looking at placing surveillance cameras around the perimeter of the church, Quirke said. Parishioners said that similar break-ins were happening at Saint Mary Catholic Church and Gilroy residents want to know why.
Although Gillio said that many factors can contribute to the upswing in thieving such as weather, a downturn in the economy and close quarters with a growing population, he couldn’t put his finger on the source of the problem. “It’s the million dollar question,” he said.
Recent crime problems
Ten percent increase in theft-type crime
Two homes burglarized and ransacked on Miller in February, 10 days apart
Thirty thousand dollars worth of property stolen between the two homes
Average of one break-in per month at St. Mary Church and South Valley Community Church
