Small Rise in Burglaries in Golden Valley

Last week saw an increase in burglaries in Golden Valley. Though it may seem alarming, Joanne Paul, crime analyst with , talked to Patch about the trend last month, saying, "Because the number of crimes in Golden Valley is so low, something like a string of burglaries can have a real impact and appear to show trends…" She continued, "In reality, you might have some guy break into 20 houses, so the one overall spree can make the city appear unsafe so we want to prevent that."

The majority of crime sin Golden Valley remain property crimes,  Warm weather, though, always brings and increase of crime, and as the sun becomes a more frequent sight, so may incidents on the Police Blotter (see attached pdfs).

"Crime goes up when the weather warms up.  That's just a fact we deal with every year," reminded Paul. "But because we can predict it, we can work to prevent it."

The Golden Valley police department holds a number of safety classes and seminars aimed at residents from 7 years old to seniors. "Our best prevention has proven time and again to be education." says Paul. "The residents are great about attending neighborhood watch programs.  Many of our safety programs are full and have waiting lists." 

While people may be excited for the nicer weather, in the end it is up to Golden Valley citizens to help prevent crime in their neighborhood. Remaining vigilant and furthering their education are key.  

"As the weather gets warmer, we all open our windows and doors, which we've been waiting to do for a long time- especially this year.  But those are invitations for burglaries," said Paul.  "So close and lock up when you leave the house- even if it's just for a few minutes."

Also evident on the blotter is the continued trend of out of town suspects being arrested. This week 13 of the 16 adults arrested were from cities outside of Golden Valley. The majority of these arrests were for traffic violations.