After the tornado: Everything you need to know about crime and how to prevent it

Major Sharise Hadnot.

Police officers will meet with neighbors about crime in communities affected by the Oct. 20 tornado Saturday, Feb. 1, 10 a.m.-noon at the Gateway Church, 12123 Hillcrest Road.

In advance, we met with Major Sharise Hadnot, North Central Division Commander, and Mark Lutz, a police officer assigned to the neighborhood unit for the West Patrol Bureau, about post-tornado looting and neighbors’ concerns. Here’s what we found out:

• The police have divided the tornado-affected communities into three different zones.
• Police were onsite immediately after the tornado with a mobile unit. After the bulk of the cleanup was done, there were four officers patrolling in each of the three zones, particularly at night. There are now two officers patrolling in each shift in all three zones.
• There have been about 15 incidents reported by citizens who say somebody took something off of their property. “Either they kicked the door in or people rummaged through the damaged home and took property,” Hadnot says. “One offense is too many offenses, but in the big picture, we’ve done really good in trying to keep crime at bay.”
• If there’s a burglary (property is broken into), call 911 to report it so police can record the data and investigate. If you talk about it on NextDoor or call City Council without alerting the police, this will delay the police response. “I don’t know if you need help, if you don’t tell the Dallas Police Department,” Hadnot says. “There’s a perception that, ‘I’ve made all these calls to the police and the police aren’t responding.’ We do prioritize. There are times people may have to wait to tell me about a theft that happened last week versus somebody who’s calling about something that’s happening right now.”
• You can report a theft (property removed without a break-in) online at dallaspolice.net.
• Neighbors may assume that police are not being responsive on NextDoor, but the reality is that officers are not able to see the conversation there.
• Lutz encourages neighbors to share their concerns at the community meeting, participate in organized crime watch efforts and pay attention to homes that are uninhabitable due to the tornado. “Notify us about suspicious activity at other homes,” he says. “Watch out for your neighbor.” He recounts a case where neighbors saw flashlights at night in a house on Northaven. “Because she called, we were there in less than two minutes and arrested two individuals for the burglary. That’s the kind of success we could have with neighbors helping neighbors.”
• Lutz would like to see the formation of more crime watch groups as the area is rebuilt. “We’ll come in, bring crime prevention specialists and help neighbors to work at a more sophisticated level.”
• Since the tornado, Hadnot says, “We’ve been there the whole time, in different ways, at different levels. We can’t sit at every individual house, and we can’t be in all places all the time.” During a week in mid-January, she reports that five city marshals and police officers on patrol in the neighborhoods impacted by the tornado made more than 200 “contacts,” meaning officers got out of the car and investigated.
• To check crime patterns in your neighborhood, visit dallasareawatch.com.
• “You lost your home and you’re not there to watch it,” Lutz says. “We hear you.”