[Chat] Charles Village Crime Alerts

Tue Apr 3 14:21:09 EDT 2007

Hello Everyone:

I know that I am not the expert on reducing crime--otherwise I would 
not have personally experienced problems myself.

(For example: over the past couple of years--my front windows being 
shot out, personally threatened by knife point, my tires slashed, car 
windows smashed, my building graffittied several times, flower pots 
stolen, nearly $5,000 worth of personal property including cameras, 
tools, ladder etc. stolen; and just last weekend I was victim of four 
12 -14 year old punks throwing rocks at my car, my building and myself. 
During the rock throwing insident, I called 911 and the lady asked for 
my name, address and phone number 3 times--which by that time, I said 
forget it--the punks were to North Avenue and the Police would be 
waisting their time to come.

With all of the crime in the area, I received notice from the Police 
department that if my alarm system sounded one more time, I will be 
faced with a $50.00 fine and up to $1400.00 after 14 times. If the area 
was safe, I would not need an alarm system--but the City uses crime to 
create a revenue source. A few false alartms are inevitable-- therefore 
I am punished for trying to protect my property.

I suppose that my secret to survival (and that is pretty much what we 
do) is to look out for my neighbors and they look out for us.

In regards to my good friend Sharon stating that the CVCBD is budget is 
putting more money into clean up rather than crime, my comment is that 
the clean team and safety team are working in all areas of Charles 
Village on a daily basis, therefore there are more eyes and ears on the 
streets than ever before. Is that enough?--"NO". Although the surtax 
will not be increased with this budget, in my PERSONAL OPINION the 
surtax would have to be increased in the future to have the security 
needed to help control the crime, particularly in Hargrove, Old Goucher 
and the West side. Should there be more POLICE presence---ABSOLUTELY 
YES! Many of my neighbors complain that the CVCBD is not doing enough. 
I pay about $230.00 to the CVCBD Surtax, compaired to the $5,000.00 
"PLUS" that I pay to the City for taxes.
"Shouldn't we be getting more police support from the City"?

Please note that the CVCBD Board meeting next Tuesday is a very 
important one iin many ways. Not only will the budget be voted up or 
down, but we will have an opportunity to hear from The Central 
Baltimore Partnership. If they are successful, there will be 
significant improvement to the area from Penn Station to 25th St. 
---which will have tremendous positive effects well beyond that area.

Stay Safe:

Richard Burnham
President
Graphic Imaging, Inc.
"Digital Printing and Graphic Solutions"

107 East 25th Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218
410-467-7071 - office
gasp107 at aol.com
410-366-7866 - fax

-----Original Message-----
From: SLG2700 at cs.com
To: chat at charlesvillage.info
Cc: mclarke at baltimorecitycouncil; davidhill at charlesvillage.org; 
sfcrwg57 at comcast.net; dmoore at wtplaw.com; katie at charlesvillage.org; 
jmillard at cavtel.net; ladolcevita at mindspring.com
Sent: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 11:38 AM
Subject: [Chat] Charles Village Crime Alerts

Neighbors:

I have been fighting for more to be done in our community to prevent 
crime for many years now.  If you are concerned about safety and crime 
matters, such as the ones contained in the forwarded emails below (SEE 
BELOW),  it is important that you communicate these concerns to 
Northern District through the Charles Village Community Benefits 
District which has a safety program exactly for that purpose.  We need 
to increase patrols both by the CVCBD team and by Northern District.  
We need coordination between the CVCBD and the Northern District. We 
need the CVCBD Safety team to assist in educating us on the best crime 
prevention techniques and safety precautions.  At the CVCBD Budget 
hearing on March 13 David Hill, Executive Director, confirmed that 
these things would continue to be done.  We also need to do our part by 
becoming block leaders for the CVCBD and block watchers for the 
Northern District. The proposed budget and the presentation on the 
Financial Plan for Fiscal Year 2008 are both available online at the 
website www.charlesvillage.org .  Please note that, although residents 
surveyed consistently have stated that they want safety and sanitation 
to receive equal treatment in the budget, the proposed budget spends 
less on Safety than Sanitation.

I urge all of you who are concerned about safety issues to check out 
the budget and financial plan on the website and communicate with David 
Hill or your quad representative or your community association 
representatives about your concerns.   We shouldn't wait for crimes to 
happen to take proper precautions and to make proper plans for improve 
safety.  If we could increase our attendance at important meetings that 
would have the best impact.

Sharon L. Guida
2746 Maryland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21218
410-889-0436 (home)
410-467-4409 (work)
410-467-4410 (work fax)
410-960-1139 (cell)
SLG2700 at cs.com

To all concerned neighbors and representatives of CVCBD and CVCA:

We just received this message from Katie Beltz, our CV block leader
coordinator, via a neighbor, regarding a house break- in on the East
side of 2700 block of St. Paul and are quite alarmed by the brazenness
of this act. We have many questions and hope that all of you will
follow up on this and update us as more information becomes available.

We were also very alarmed to hear of a car break- in, on March 28,
during the CVCA meeting at Margaret Brent, in which a guest presenter
to the meeting had her driver car window smashed and her navigation
system stolen while parked on St. Paul. How ironic when safety issues
were on the agenda just a few feet from the break-in. It took over an
hour and a half for the police to arrive on the scene, while she waited
outside on the sidewalk. This woman had to drive all the way back to
Frederick, MD without a driver window and without her navigation
system. What a fine welcome to our neighborhood.

Clearly, safety issues cannot be ignored and indeed, must take
priority. It would be nice to think that we have gotten beyond these
more serious crimes and can relax by diverting our funds and turn our
attention to other more pleasant issues in our neighborhood. But
apparently we have not, and must continue to be vigilant and even
perhaps more so as these events seem to suggest.

This prompted me to review the notes from the February 7, CVCBD meeting
where concerns regarding " a crime wave" were raised. Is this indeed
what is occurring? How does the Northern District respond to this? Is
there a pattern that can be discerned?
How is the CVCA and the CVCBD responding to this?

Sincerely,
Linda Gravina Ridings
Cornel Rubino

From: Katie Beltz <katie at charlesvillage.org>
>>Date: 2007/04/02 Mon PM 01:51:35 CDT
>>To: Block Leaders <blockleaders at charlesvillage.info>
>>Subject: [CV Block Leaders] (no subject)
>
>
>>Monday April 2, 2007 One of our neighbors had their house broken into
>>last night on the East side of the 2700 block of St. Paul. They asked
>>me to email you all with the details as soon as possible so that you
>>all might be on the look out and keep your own houses protected.
>>Luckily they were not home, because the intruders stayed all night
>>long. They cut the phone lines (presumably before entering the
>>house) then forced the back door of the house open. They stole
>>mainly jewelry, power tools, personal documents, alcohol, and some of
>>the homeowners clothing. They may have been watching this house
>>because they did not seem to be bothered that the car was parked in
>>back of the house and that the lights were on up stairs. It appears
>>that the intruders were a man and a woman and that one or both of
>>them smoked cigarettes. They stayed in the house overnight eating
>>the homeowners food, drinking their alcohol, and sleeping in their
>>rooms. The home owners arrived early this morning around 7am to
>>find the house ransacked. Please keep your eyes and ears open but
>>remember,
>>* If you have any information regarding this incident please call the
>>Northern District Police - 410-396-2455 or JHU Campus Safety and
>>Security - 410-516-4600.
>>* Do not argue with an armed robber and risk serious injury: safety
>>- wise, it is better to relinquish the property demanded. Without
>>being obvious about it, try to form a detailed memory of the robber's
>>appearance so that you can make positive identification afterwards.
>>Timely and accurate crime reporting is critical to crime prevention.
>>Report all criminal incidents promptly to the Police
>>Katie BeltzBlock Leader CoordinatorCharles Village Community
>>Benefits District2301 N Charles St - Baltimore, MD 21218410-235-4411
>>x16
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