Quiet Towns Not So Quiet

[fireboy 6]

After a Armed robbery occured in Hastings yesterday, How concerned Should residents be? The village that has been known for its low crime rate has experienced several serious crimes in the past few months. Unfortunately it seems that the smaller quiet villages and towns are frequently popping up on the news for similar incidents. I just want to here some thoughts and comments on the recent robberies and crimes in the "quiet places" and how the residents should react, because I fell that some people are still very blind to what goes on.

More on yesterday's robbery

http://rivertowns.patch.com/articles/hastings-police-investigate-armed-robbery

[INIT915 1,119]

After a Armed robbery occured in Hastings yesterday, How concerned Should residents be? The village that has been known for its low crime rate has experienced several serious crimes in the past few months. Unfortunately it seems that the smaller quiet villages and towns are frequently popping up on the news for similar incidents. I just want to here some thoughts and comments on the recent robberies and crimes in the "quiet places" and how the residents should react, because I fell that some people are still very blind to what goes on.

More on yesterday's robbery

http://rivertowns.pa...e-armed-robbery

No places are immune from these types of incidents.

[fireboyny 61]

Its not just crimes, Take a look at Youth Deaths due to "stupidity."

[peterose313 345]

No places are immune from these types of incidents.

Another example is the armed robbery in Pleasantville over the weekend at Louie Linguini's restaurant.

[SECTMB 612]

As members of the FD or EMS we are sometimes privy to incidents in our Villages that sometimes do not receive much public notice. I think the general public would be very surprised about some of the things that occur in their neighborhoods.

With regard to crimes, you and your neighbors need to be alert and aware of out of the ordinary activities and make the appropriate notifications to the authorities. Complacency and indifference are a big help to the bad guys. Watching out for each other is still a great deterrent to crime.

[ny10570 745]

With the economy in the tank crime will go up. As for the safety of our small towns, there is nothing that is changing. When crimes and tragedy are so infrequent a couple of incidents in short succession really stand out. Over the years these spurts fall within the average.

[JetPhoto 626]

Another good example happened Monday night in the town of LaGrange where a home invasion took place. A trooper ended up killing a perp that attacked him and 4 others were later captured. Although no word has been released why these outstanding citizens picked this house, comments made by neighbors that "there was always lots of visitors late at night and early in the morning" makes you wounder if this was a drug house. This is only 1 example in Dutchess County but many less visible ones happen daily.

The days of peaceful towns in southern NY have disappeared. All I can say is always keep your eyes & ears open and watch because your neighbor may not be such a nice guy after all.

[helicopper 1,050]

A single crime, even a robbery in a sleepy bedroom community, is not indicative of a crime wave so I don't think people in Hastings need to start battening down the hatches. Reasonable security measures and awareness of your surroundings is a good idea no matter where you are whether Hastings or Hoboken.

There are relationships between crime and the economy for sure but even with that, one reported crime is a statistical anomaly.

You also have to consider the nature of the crimes. Most "home invasion" robberies are targeted victims chosen for very specific reasons so the jurisdiction is not the deciding factor.

Now, the stupidity factor knows no geographical boundaries and that exists EVERYWHERE.