Community gears up to fight crime

A property crime spree in Polo – 35 break-ins and burglaries in 18 weeks – appears to have abated. City officials now have the time to make plans to ward off future sprees.

Polo’s mayor, police commissioner and police chief will host a public meeting Tuesday to bring the community up to speed on their plans.

City officials are considering several proposals to curb the unexpected outbreak of property crimes, and they’ll be asking the public for help.

A Neighborhood Watch network might be organized, and people already are being asked to call city hall to register for it. Also being considered is the Helping Hand prevention program (as in “Don’t give burglars a helping hand”).

It’s important to involve the public in grass-roots crime-fighting programs, either by keeping an eye on the neighbors’ property or by practicing better security measures on their own property.

But a third proposal to fight crime should address a concern of Polo residents who want to be more quickly informed when break-ins and burglaries occur.

Using cell phones and the Internet, the city is looking to establish a system to notify community members of a crime and possibly seek their assistance.

E-mails, text alerts and Twitter alerts could reach a large number of Polo residents shortly after a crime was committed, so that they can keep watch and take extra precautions against becoming crime victims themselves.

We like the idea of putting today’s communications technology to work against lawbreakers. Crooks have been using cell phones for years to stay in contact and keep one step ahead of the law. Law-abiding citizens should be itching to use the same technology against those who have no respect for the law.

The Polo Community Crime Prevention and Response Initiative will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Polo Area Senior and Community Services building, 101 E. Mason St.

Critics might grouse that the public meeting, after so many burglaries and break-ins, is coming too late, but we wonder whether a community forum on crime prevention would have gotten any attention at all had it occurred before the summertime crime spree.