For many years, Westfield has been known as a very safe town with minimal crime. However, with a recent rise in crime, some people are starting to wonder if that in fact is still true. Westfield now has an overall crime rate of 9 per 1,000 residents, making the crime rate near the average for cities and towns of all sizes in America. But realistically, while Westfield is still considered a safe town, it certainly used to be much safer.
Car and bike thefts have become extremely common in town, and concern is growing about the spike in stolen property. Unfortunately, oftentimes people forget to lock the doors of their cars and homes, which makes it much easier for a crime to occur.
While researching this story, we spoke to Officer DiBella, our School Resource Officer to hear his thoughts on the issue. He explained, “Westfield is a high target area for motor vehicle thefts…A lot of times, especially in this area, when we see car robberies it is because people are forgetting to lock their cars and take their keys out.”
Also, recent advancements in technology makes it a lot easier to break into cars and even garages. We talked to Mr. Gerckens, a Westfield resident for his perspective. “I think that the increase in crimes like car thefts is linked to these advancements in technology. People leave their key fobs in their cars and expert thieves know what to look for, so we have to be more aware.”
Clearly, if people took the extra step to ensure their cars and homes were secure, it would make it more difficult for thieves to succeed. This was particularly true during the recent holiday season, when package thefts became very common. For example, during the holidays a resident of Westfield had a mail package containing a $1,500 cell phone, stolen from his porch.
Overall, Westfield continues to be a very safe town and a wonderful place to live. However, the recent increase in crime is a reminder that everyone needs to be more careful and more aware when it comes to taking care of their property so that thieves do not have more opportunities to commit crimes.
