According to a police notice posted in our church (and I don't know if the information is up to date or not), a registered sex offender lives in a nearby apartment building. At the bus stop, I heard that four apartments were broken into and only selected items were taken. One of them was a camcorder, and I suppose that might be a useful item for certain types of sex offenders.
It is too soon for the news item or the police blotter to be published in the town newspaper. However, because no one was disturbed during the breakins, I would suspect the perpetrator knew those residents were not at home -- in other words, an inside job.
If there is no evidence of forced entry, is it reasonable to suppose a master key was used? Should I suggest to one of the single women discussing a loose master key with the building management?
Which is a good reason for not posting sex offender information in a public place... If you feel that you should want to know this information you should obtain it directly from the police and have it documented that you have the information...
Only "selected items were taken" lets see, a camcorder, could be useful to just about anyone who wants to sell it on eBay to get money for drugs, or to local teenagers that want to screw around and record stuff but either don't have access to a camcorder or can't afford one...
Do you have any other items that you may be able to describe that would be of specific interest to a sex offender, not just one that "could be of use to a specific type of sex offender" in a general and vague way...
Typically those police blotters won't describe the specific items taken in a break-in, because that information is usually only known to the victim, the police, and the burglar... You don't solve that type of case by publishing a detailed description of the missing items...
Gee... Well that MUST mean that a key was used...
- Were all of these units on the first floor ?
- Could someone have climbed up to the windows if on upper floors ?
- Were the locks disassembled by a forensic tech to look for evidence of tampering/picking attempts ?
- As Shiva asked previously, are the doors secure from loiding ?
- What kind of locks are in use, and have they really been rekeyed from the previous occupancy of the unit ?
- Is there anything that all of the victims have recently done in common, i.e. obtaining copies of keys from the same keyshop, or having the same service company out to their units for some reason ?
- Are the locks even masterkeyed ?
- Have any strange people been seen hanging around the building or the general area ? (This would go against the 'inside job' theory, as anyone can observe a building from outside and take note of who comes and goes and when they do so...)
Before you go leaping to such shocking conclusions, you should make sure that they are fully reasonable given the facts at hand... But I guess it is much easier to harass the sex offender that has his/her information posted and blame them for yet another problem the community is facing and scapegoat them for the sake of everyone's perception of safety until the real burglar is found... Rather than beign patient and examining all of the evidence and actually investigating -- not every break in will be solved, some people [professional thieves] are just so good at what they do that they leave no evidence behind and know exactly what can and can't be taken (traceable items vs. valuables that can be resold)...
Leave the armchair crime solving attempts and guesswork to the realm of the crime-fantasy-drama TV shows like Law & Order and CSI...
Evan, ~~ formerly a maintenance man, now a college student...
The information is posted in the church because it is landlord to a pre-school. I never said I wanted to have this information, nor said I would act on such information. I speak to single women tenants at the bus stop and I have privately mentioned the fact to one of them. I have not even said what is the name of the registered sex offender, and the tenant is perfectly free to ask the Police Department for whatever information is current.
Thank you for your interesting rant. I have not harassed the sex offender, nor has anyone else that I know of. I don't know what kind of sex crime he may have committed, whether it might be against an adult or a child. I have not investigated anything, nor have I attempted to solve any crime.
I have spoken to one of the single women at the bus stop and of course I have some concern for her safety, because her building may be unsafe and the sex offender may still be living there. Surely when I speak to her, I will ask whether she knows anything of the investigation, and whether master keys or credit cards are at issue in the investigation.
Well until you have all the facts on something like this you shouldn't comment on it... Speculation in cases like this is something for the police to do and follwo up on...
And that is EXACTLY how rumors get started...
Oh, and jumping to conclusions that sex offenders burglarized apartments is on topic I guess [in your lingo maybe]
Evan, ~~ formerly a maintenance man, now a college student...
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