“Hinsdale is a low-crime community. It’s not a no-crime community.”
Hinsdale Police Chief Brian King says it so often, we think he should get the phrase trademarked.
But we understand the need for repetition. We’ve written more editorials than we can count reminding people not to leave their expensive cars unlocked in the driveway with a key fob and garage door opener inside.
And with the commercial burglaries of late, including break-ins to Jimmy John’s, Starbucks, Wild Ginger and the Hinsdale Barber shop, and the theft of a clerk’s personal credit cards from J McLaughlin, we see why he felt the need to utter the phrase yet again.
Regrettably, the days of feeling comfortable leaving one’s keys in the car and the front door unlocked are long gone. Life has changed.
And so have criminals. They are bolder and more brazen than ever before. The suspects who stole a safe and $1,200 from Jimmy John’s used a landscaping brick to break the window and then shattered the window at Starbucks by throwing a chair through it.
Armed robbers have accosted a Hinsdale postal worker and hit a luxury car dealership.
And Hinsdale is not alone. Crime is up across the region.
King offered this advice to merchants in a story in last week’s paper: Call police about any suspicious activity and make sure the establishment’s alarm system and video surveillance are working properly.
In the past, he’s warned residents of the dangers of attempting to interrupt offenders stealing an automobile from the driveway. Many are armed. Stay inside and call 911.
Hinsdaleans can rest assured Hinsdale police are doing all they can to apprehend the individuals responsible in the recent string of burglaries. They have leads in all four cases. They also have recovered the skeleton key stolen from a letter carrier at gunpoint May 9, and arrested an individual in connection with the June 16 robbery at Verizon.
Earlier this year two men responsible for the March 2017 armed robbery of Razny Jewelers were sentenced to 11 and 8 years in federal prison. That sends a messages to other criminals who plan to target Hinsdale, King said at the time.
“Make no mistake. When violent crimes occur in Hinsdale, we will use all resources available from both the state and federal level to ensure the offenders are held accountable,” King said.
On behalf of all residents, we thank King and the entire force for doing all they can to keep Hinsdale a low-crime community.
