January 7, 2009
Vol. 78 • Issue #1

news

Home-Safe-Home
Life after an attempted break-in

Here’s one simple, inexpensive way to criminal-proof your home. At Old Northeast, Inc., where the Northeast Community Action Network (CAN) meets every Wednesday, there are lots of tip sheets for ideas on making your home and community safer. The crime prevention panels are available for neighborhood events, and they demonstrate the 75 Points of Crime Prevention outlined on a page you can pick up at 6612 Independence Ave. Window locks are a good example of what can be installed to do the job of unsightly boards in the windows. There are also brochures (in English and Spanish) on Residential Safety Tips, Holiday Crime Prevention Tips, Warning Signs of a Drug House, Gangs, Graffiti, Suggestions for Preventing Auto Theft and Vandalism, Home Fire Safety, CPTED, and the Basics of Crime Prevention. Photo: Bud Stevens

The Tuesday before Christmas commenced with a typical relaxed morning at the Stevens’ house. We breakfasted late and spent most of the morning in imaginary play. At around noon, I rummaged through the bag of books we’d checked out from North-East Branch Library and – to six-year-old Carissa’s great delight – discovered two Henry Huggins books (from the series by Beverly Cleary) that we still hadn’t read. At this moment, 21-month-old Peggy started getting cranky, so I sat down in our upstairs office to nurse her. Since becoming a toddler, Peg’s insisted on us being quiet while she’s falling asleep, so I suggested to Carissa that she play on her own for a bit, and said I’d read to her after Peg was more settled.

Carissa got busy making a paper collar for her black stuffed kitten, then headed downstairs to find the toy animal. In the dining room, she heard a scuffling sound outside the window that leads into our backyard and, thinking maybe Kansas City Power & Light crews had come to trim the trees, she peered outside. She saw a man standing right outside the window, on top of our basement trapdoor. The man was looking away from the window, but when Carissa shouted, “What are you doing?!” he turned to look at her, muttered something she didn’t understand and took off running. He jumped the fence and continued running away through the vacant field that borders our property.

Carissa ran up to tell me what happened, and I rushed down with a wide-awake baby in my arms. On entering the dining room, the first thing I felt was a gust of cold air, and I saw that the window was wide open (it doesn’t have a screen). Carissa assured me she hadn’t opened it. Then I realized my little girl had come downstairs, alone, at the very moment a stranger had forced open our window and was probably making sure the coast was clear before climbing in.

After spending some minutes making sure our doors and windows were secure, I realized I should inform police of the attempted break-in so they could be on the alert and possibly prevent the man from breaking in somewhere else in the neighborhood.

I dialed 911; because of hazy memories of a call I’d made a few years ago, I thought there would be a recording telling me to press a number to indicate the level of emergency – so I figured I could choose the non-emergency option to prevent my call from upstaging a call about a potentially life-threatening situation. I was wrong: the recording only said to stay on the line, and at this point I knew if I hung up I’d waste even more of their time as they’d have to call me back to make sure I was all right, so I just waited.

It didn’t occur to me to watch the clock, but I think I spent about five minutes on hold. This was acceptable to me as the emergency was already over, but had I called because we’d heard an intruder moving around downstairs, five minutes would have seemed an unbearable time to wait.

Therefore, while my husband Bud and I generally prefer tax-cuts over tax-hikes, we’d gladly vote for increased funding if this could ensure that everyone dialing 911 gets an immediate response.

The operator listened to my account of what happened and said a patrol car had been dispatched to my house. Two officers arrived a short time later and listened to Carissa’s description of the incident and of the intruder. They also advised us to wedge tightly-fitting pieces of wood into the upper halves of our windows to prevent them from being forced open in the future. Bud took care of that as soon as he came home from work.

How do we feel now? Definitely blessed by God’s providence in stopping this crime in process, though I wish it had been me and not Carissa who’d made the discovery. (She says I just wish I could be the one getting the attention!)

She certainly doesn’t go downstairs by herself any more. I’m glad we were made aware of our home’s vulnerabilities so we could correct them before being victimized, yet we can’t help feeling victimized by our own fear. I’m sad that my six-year-old has already had this graphic, real-life experience. I recall the fun my friends and I used to have pretending we were being “stalked” by some evil criminal on the loose. Somehow I don’t think that will ever be a fun game for Carissa. No.

That said, we still love Northeast and we’re not giving up. We may be scared, but I think Carissa’s fence-jumper was “scareder.”

Susan Stevens is a six-year resident of Historic Northeast and a full-time mother of two. She lives with them and her husband. Comments can be sent to northeastneighbors@gmail.com.

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