Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008

Kennewick police reports rise in home burglaries

By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer

July brought nearly a 48 percent jump in residential burglaries in Kennewick, while other thefts saw a slight drop since June.

The Kennewick Police Department's monthly crime report shows that home break-ins far outpaced thefts from vehicles, stolen cars and commercial burglaries, said Sgt. Brian Swartswalter.

In the first seven months of this year, home break-ins jumped 46 percent for a total of 155 residential burglaries.

And car thefts -- driven by a spike in auto thefts from February and March -- increased 10 percent for a total of 120 stolen cars.

At the same time, there were 245 thefts from vehicles, down 8 percent, and 80 commercial burglaries, down 4 percent.

In July alone, the city had 31 home burglaries, which was 10 more than in June, and the highest for any month so far this year.

And that was 13 more burglaries this July than in July 2007.

"We have altered some of our patrols to catch burglars. Our criminal apprehension team is focused on that right now," said Allan Knox, officer for the crime resistant program.

"If you have porch lights, use them, and do not leave the garage door open for your cats and dogs to go in and out. Burglars can too," Knox said.

Total reported crimes, including attempts, in the four categories were 600 through July 2008, which is 36 more than those tallied in the first seven months of last year.

Knox said neighbors should work together to keep crime away.

"Where neighbors work together and look out for each other we've found that neighborhoods get a reputation among the bad guys that it is not a good place to do crime," Knox said.

"Everyone should keep an eye out for anything suspicious and call 628-0333 if they do see something not quite right," Knox said.

* John Trumbo: 582-1529; jtrumbo@tricityherald.com