Chief shares safety tips to help prevent crimes

Cornell Police Chief Glenn Rehberg (left) explains how to replace the screws in a straight plate, with longer screws, to reinforce the door frame and make the door harder to kick in, while Nancy Hickethier (right) looks on, during the crime prevention talk, June 21. Photo by Joy Dain

By Julia Wolf

As part of a Meet the Chief event, Cornell Police Chief Glenn Rehberg shared some best practices on crime prevention. The June 21 seminar, was open to any interested community members. Rehberg says the No. 1 job of a police offi cer, is to prevent crime in the first place.

“I am a big believer in that, if we can pull that off,” said Rehberg, adding that is his goal as a police chief.

Rehberg says the types of crime most common, are something that has changed over the years.

Rehberg says, for a crime to happen, three things need to be in place. First, there needs to be a person who thinks committing a crime is a good idea, with a motive, such as money. That person also needs an appropriate target. Lastly, the person needs the opportunity to commit the crime, where the person feels they will be able to accomplish their goal.

“If we can disrupt these three things, we can stop the crime from happening,” said Rehberg.

He says individuals can take four approaches to prevent crime – delay, deny, detect and deter potential criminals. Rehberg says the more of those four things we can put in place, the better.

“Most criminals are like people everywhere, in the sense that, the easier something is to do it, the more attractive it is,” said Rehberg.

When it comes to preventing home breakins, Rehberg says there are some easy ways to put the four D’s into effect. He says one of the easiest things, is to make sure everyone locks their doors.

“The crime rate here, and the crime rate in Madison, and the crime rate in Milwaukee, is not all that different, per capita,” said Rehberg.

He says, if doors are locked, homeowners can then turn their attention to how people would try to get through them. Rehberg says most residential doors can be kicked in fairly easily, and doors should either be solid or have reinforced glass, so people cannot break the glass to unlock the door.

“They make some glass that is really hard to break,” said Rehberg. “You put a film on it, and you can actually hit it with a baseball bat and the glass will break, but the plastic film will keep the glass together.”

Rehberg also says making sure the door frame is reinforced is important, so people can’t use a crow-bar to “move the wall” and pop a deadbolt out of the frame as easily.

Another easy fix Rehberg recommends, is replacing screws in the straight plate, with three-inch screws, to make the door harder to kick in. Otherwise, he says the wood can split off the lock when kicked.

“Either it’s going to be a lot harder to break in, or a lot louder to break in, both of which are bad, ’cause you don’t want to get caught,” said Rehberg, adding that the changes to the door can both delay and deny potential criminals.

Rehberg says he is also a big believer in lighting, to help with detection and deterrence. He encouraged attendees to use an LED bulb near front doors and says flood lights may be a benefit.

“Lighting is huge if you’ve got neighbors who can see it, or if you look out, you should be able to see them without them seeing you,” said Rehberg.

He says keeping shrubbery trimmed also helps neighbors be able to look after each other’s houses, as well.

Rehberg says home alarm systems are also good for detection and deterrence, and says newer models of alarms are far less complicated to use than older models were.

When it comes to windows, he says they are loud to break, so there is no surprising anyone home after that. Rehberg says some alarm systems also recognize the sound of glass breaking.

“There isn’t a house out there that can’t be broken into,” said Rehberg.

Instead, he says everyone can make their houses louder and more difficult to break into, so potential criminals pick a different target.

“That’s the goal with all of this,” said Rehberg.

For crimes outside the house, such as muggings and assaults, Rehberg says those things tend to happen at transition areas, where people are going from one place to another. Some examples of transition areas are parking lots, ATMs and convenience stores.

“Transition areas are places where people tend to be a little more distracted,” said Rehberg.

He says some ways to deny crime, is to spend less time in those transition areas and make sure you have your keys out.

Rehberg says criminals will sometimes use distracting questions, such as asking the time or if you have a cigarette, to gauge if you are an easy target and use the conversation as an opportunity to get physically closer to you.

He acknowledges the situation may be different for small towns.

“Part of this is also, what else is present while this is happening?” said Rehberg, adding it might be different if it is a family in an RV asking about the park, than someone asking the time while holding a cell phone.

Rehberg also says people should be mindful of the situation when getting gas or at ATMs, so criminals cannot get into the vehicle through the passenger side.

If someone believes they are being followed, Rehberg says they should avoid going home. Instead, they should go to a well-lit, public area or police station, and call 911.