Police Chief Offers Advice On Burglary Prevention

Update: 7:45 a.m. Thursday, comments from Lafayette police chief.

The three police chiefs of Lamorinda have been comparing notes on the recent spate of burglaries.

Burglary was a main topic Wednesday morning at a monthly meeting of the chiefs of Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda police departments, along with managers from the Moraga-Orinda Fire District and St. Mary's College Public Safety, said Moraga Police Chief Robert Priebe.

The chiefs believe there is more than one group of burglars targeting Lamorinda, said Priebe.

Lafayette Police Chief Eric Christensen said Lafayette has been relatively quiet. "We have only had three so far this month and we arrested one suspect from one of those cases," Christensen wrote in an email.

Priebe advised residents to "call when you see something suspicious, without delay. That is still happening; people calling us after they hear something has happened rather than when they saw something they thought was suspicious."

Other advice:

• lock all doors, windows and vehicles.
• use alarm systems if available;
• don't leave anything of value visible.
• look out for your neighbors.

Orinda had the most visible burglary attempt recently, captured on home security video.

A couple of would-be burglaries were mentioned in the latest Moraga police blotter.

Here are some other recent Moraga PD reports:

At 4:43 p.m. Feb. 5, a resident reported a suspicious white van on the 1600 block of Camino Pablo. At 10:55 a.m. Feb. 6, a resident reported a dirty white van with two men in it, driving slowly in the area of Moraga Valley Lane. In both cases, officers did not locate the suspicious vehicle.

Feb. 6
At 4:27 p.m., a resident complained about "a suspicious group of Hispanic and white male adults with clipboards and papers congregating around an unknown colored 'beat up' vehicle" on Woodford Drive. When officers arrived, the group was gone.

Feb. 8
At 5:49 p.m., a male approximately 30 years old looked through a window and knocked on a door on Lucia Lane, the residents reported. Officers searched the area without finding the man.