Sophie Sonnenfeld Photos
Darnell Young (at right) talks of safety concerns.
Marchand and Serfilippi clash, prompting boos.
Westville neighbors debated how to address an uptick in property crime, at a meeting that featured a shouting match between two political candidates.
Sixty people attended the meeting, which took place Saturday afternoon on the patio of the Mitchell branch library on Harrison Street.
Since January, the Westville/ West Hills/ West Rock/ Beverly Hills/ Amity district has had 317 reported property crimes, including car break-ins, theft, and robbery. Burglary alone has gone up 30.2 percent since last year.
Just last Friday, homes were burglarized at 5 a.m. on West Rock and Edgewood Avenue, according to the police. An awakened West Rock man thwarted a third burglary by scaring off the intruder, and police were able to track down and arrest a suspect.
Saturday’s Westville gathering on the Mitchell patio.
At Saturday’s meeting, top district cop Lt. Rose Dell provided maps, graphs, and reports, and shared her own suggestions for preventing property crime. Residents intermittently jumped in with personal stories and ideas.
Dell said it is most important that residents remember to lock their cars. Multiple people at the meeting recounted seeing young people scouring neighborhoods for unlocked cars to steal loose change and other valuables.
One of Dell’s flyers.
Dell handed out flyers reminding people to lock their cars and asked the crowd to distribute them around their neighborhoods. Dell also said residents should take all valuables out of their cars before getting out.
In order for officers to track down stolen goods, Dell suggested people take photos of all valuable items as well as their serial numbers. Dell said residents should also install more cameras or lighting.
“Crime ebbs and flows. I don’t say that to undermine what we all have seen, but so that we can understand it,” Dell said, She said the preventive measures she suggested could considerably lower the number of break-ins and thefts. Some neighbors have called for more of a focus on the thefts that have occurred in locked cars, garages and homes; Dell handed out suggestions related to how burglars take advantage of open windows, overgrown trees, and air conditioners to break into homes undetected.
Lt. Rose Dell explains the Westville crime statistics.
“There is often a difference in perception, but we have to be able to respect one another,” Dell said. (Click here to read about an earlier discussion about citizen patrols among Westville neighbors, at a community meeting held last November.)
Christian Vick with Dell.
Christian Vick, an athlete, said his neighbors asked him to walk around and watch the neighborhood. From 2 – 5 a.m. four or five times a week, Vick said, he walks in a loop near the Yale Bowl. But said he’s not sure if a citizens patrol is the best method for Westville: “I sometimes get scared when I go out because anyone could have a weapon.”
The crowd eventually raised questions about available resources to start a citizens patrol or hire private security.
Ward 27 Alder Richard Furlow and Ward 25 Alder Adam Marchand attended the meeting and field questions.
At one pointMarchand’s challenger this year for the Ward 25 seat,Dennis Serfilippi plunged in to speak about missteps by the current Board of Alders in allocating funding. “We don’t have the necessary funds we need for the police,” he said.
Marchand leaped up from a corner where he and Furlow had been listening. “A lot of that information is not correct!” Marchand yelled out. Marchand and Serfilippi pointed fingers and then started shouting at each other. The candidates’ words were inaudible over one another; eventually their argument was drowned out by members of the crowd who started booing. Someone shouted for Serfilippi to be arrested for creating a disturbance.
“I think we should have more community meetings that are not about politics,” Westville resident Dennis Parsons said. Dennis Parsons and his wife Maya said they felt the meeting could have been more productive if politics were left out of the mix.
Maya Parsons has lived in Westville all her life and said her parents have never had an issue involving robbery. A few years ago, though, Parsons left her car unlocked and the next morning she discovered someone rifled through her belongings. Luckily nothing was stolen. and she didn’t report the incident.
Then last month as Dennis Parsons was leaving for work at 4:15 am, he noticed his family’s belongings were strewn around outside. That night, Maya Parsons left their car unlocked; someone stole her debit card, medication, and loose cash.
Parsons said the officers told her that was the one night they were off patrol, but encouraged her to reach out to neighbors to see if they had any additional information.
Dennis, Maya, and Malaysia Parsons.
The Parsons were alerted their debit card was used at a nearby convenience store after it was stolen. “Why wouldn’t they [the officers] check the surveillance video at the store?” Maya Parsons asked.
Dell said the officers usually do track down such surveillance footage, but it doesn’t always lead to a direct arrest: “Sometimes the faces in the video aren’t clear, or the department can’t recognize a specific face.” The New Haven Police department has an app that helps it share footage with other departments to identify a culprit, she added.
To watch for and identify criminals, Dell said, it is important for neighbors to communicate. The meeting organizers said they want to encourage communication across Westville to prevent these crimes and are planning a series of additional community meetings.
Following is Lt. Dell’s latest weekly crime blotter for the district:
FROM 8/4/19 to 8/10/19 POLICE RESPONDED TO 192 CALLS FOR SERVICE IN THE WESTVILLE/WEST HILLS SECTION OF NEW HAVEN. THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF NOTABLE INCIDENTS:
On 8/5, police responded to Laurel Road on a fire alarm. The Fire Department arrived and found a fire in the attic of the residence. No one was injured, but the home suffered heavy smoke and water damage.
This week Westville residents reported seven car break-ins. Sometime between 8/3 – 8/4 a Honda Accord was broken into on Judwin Avenue. Jumper cables and a pair of sunglasses were stolen. The owner believes the car was locked, but there was no damage to the vehicle. Between 8/4 and 8/5, a Kia Sol was burglarized that was parked in the rear parking lot of a residence located in the 1900 block of Chapel Street. The vehicle was left unlocked, and a check book and wallet were stolen. Credit cards were used at multiple gas stations in the area. On 8/6, a resident of Maplewood Road reported that his car was broken into sometime overnight and some loose change was stolen. A wallet and Dolce and Gabanna Cologne were stolen from a vehicle parked on Willard Street between 8/7 – 8/8. A screwdriver was located on the passenger seat that did not belong to the car owner. The same night, a backpack which contained a computer, Iphone, “Beats by Dre” headphones and a color marker set were taken from an unlocked car on Alden Avenue. Overnight Thursday into Friday, a GMC Yukon was entered on Green Hill Terrace. A pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, forty dollars cash and a spare set of house keys were stolen. A new crack on the dashboard may have been an attempt to remove the audio system. The next evening a vehicle was broken into in the Fountainwood condo complex. The thief stole a Mac Thin Air laptop, a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses and a basketball.
On 8/6, police received information that a male subject was loitering at the Regal Inn. Officer Joseph Mortali located an individual sleeping on the back staircase that was not a guest of the hotel. He claimed to be visiting a friend but could not provide his friend’s room number. Officer Mortali saw a crack pipe in his sock and found two bags of crack cocaine on his person. The subject was arrested for trespass and drug possession.
On Friday morning, around 5 a.m., two homes were burglarized, one on West Rock Avenue and another on Edgewood Avenue. At another home on West Rock Avenue, the residents were asleep in their beds, when the husband heard a loud noise coming from outside the home. He looked out the window and did not see anything suspicious. He then heard an even louder bang, peered outside again and saw two unknown subjects near the rear entrance to his home. Both subjects quickly fled the backyard and took off on West Rock Avenue. Police arrived and detained two subjects that fit the description provided by the homeowner. The homeowner was then able to positively identify one of the subjects. Officers found that the subjects had forcibly removed the porch screen but were unable to enter the house through the porch. Both subjects were interviewed and then arrested for conspiracy to commit burglary. Detectives will continue to process fingerprints and DNA swabs from these burglaries and others in the area, which may lead to additional arrests.
On 8/10, police responded to headquarters to take a late report of an animal bite. A New Haven resident visited a pet store on Amity Road and saw numerous birds not in cages, flying throughout the store. As she walked through the store, she was bit on the forearm by one of the birds. She required medical treatment for the bite. Officer David Simpson accompanied the resident to the store to obtain insurance information from the owners.
Westville Crime Reality Check: