Belmont Police Weighing Best Means of Notification

The recent crime trend in Belmont of "doorbell burglaries"---burglars knocking on doors and then forcing entry on a side or back door or window when no one answers--has prompted outreach by police who are encouraging residents to alert them of any suspicious activity.

It also has police looking at the best means of communication when such incidents occur.

Since Friday, there have been five reported home burglaries in Belmont. Three occurred in the Central neighborhood on Friday, one on Kimmie Court in the Cipriani neighborhood on Sunday and one Monday afternoon on Bishop Road in the Plateau/Skymont neighborhood.

Belmont Chief of Police Dan DeSmidt says his department is working on determining the best means of notification to residents when burglaries or other crimes are committed.

“We are talking about the best medium by which to alert residents to these crimes,” said DeSmidt on Monday.

“The type of notification depends upon the type of crime and the timing.  Rapid notification (also known as reverse 9-1-1), is best to use when a situation is currently happening in the area,” said DeSmidt.

“There’s a lot of technology available to us, but the use of that technology depends upon the details of the incident.”

DeSmidt explained that on Friday, the timeline was key to the department’s notification to the public.

“By the time we realized we had victims in Belmont, we had strong indications that the suspect(s) was already being pursued by other agencies north of here.”

On Friday, police agencies in Hillsborough and San Mateo were involved in a pursuit of the suspect(s) thought to be connected to burglaries on Valley View, Manzanita and Mezes avenues.

DeSmidt said that Twitter is currently the most effective means to get the word out about an incident.

“Twitter is the most user-friendly and immediate for both sides. A formal press release can take hours to get out to people, but Twitter can get information out quickly and users don’t need to have an account set up—they can just search @BelmontCaPolice.”

On Friday, the notifications three burglaries in the Central neighborhood, which occurred between about 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., were sent out via a press release issued by the police department

DeSmidt stressed that the pattern of burglaries experienced in Belmont over recent weeks is a regional problem and is not occurring in just Belmont.

“There is a pattern here—this is not just a Belmont problem, it’s regional. These criminals are not from this area, they are coming from the East Bay and San Francisco and they are hitting neighborhoods from Daly City to Menlo Park.”

Regionally there has been a rise in car thefts and residential burglaries said DeSmidt, however, he said there are high numbers of arrests being made in connection to these crimes.

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