Communicating Possible Criminal Activity to Neighbors
Nextdoor is a powerful platform that allows you to communicate with your neighbors to make your neighborhood stronger and safer...
Be Safe
Don’t put yourself in harm’s way or engage a suspect to gather more details about the situation. Your safety is paramount.
Call 9-1-1
If you think that a crime may be occurring, or that the safety of you or your neighbors may be at risk, don’t hesitate to call 911. You shouldn’t worry about using up police time. Calls to 911 will be prioritized based on availability of law enforcement.
Even if you are unsure as to what is going on, the best thing to do is to let the police investigate. When the police catch someone in the act of breaking into a home, or stealing something, it is not unusual that one person is responsible for multiple other crimes in a neighborhood, and once caught, crime will decrease.
When to use an Urgent Alert vs. a regular post
Post an Urgent Alert if someone’s safety or property is at risk and if the issue has occurred within the last 10 minutes. If you just witnessed the behavior, call 911. Then post an Urgent Alert so that your neighbors will be notified of the situation by both email and text message.
Remember that Urgent Alerts are limited to 110 characters, so you’ll need to be descriptive, yet concise. (You can add more details later by replying to the Urgent alert, if needed.)
Here’s an example of an Urgent Alert that communicates suspicious behavior in a concise way: Man on Main trying to break into car. Wh/male bl/pants rd/shirt, Nikes, scar on cheek - See him, call 911.
If it has been more than 10 minutes, post your report as a message in the Crime & Safety category.
How to post your Crime & Safety message to help everyone in your neighborhood stay safe
1. What - focus on the behavior that raised your suspicion. Describe the potentially criminal or dangerous activity you observed or experienced - what the person was doing, what they said (if they spoke to you). Include the direction they were last headed.
2. Who - give as full a description as possible of the person, people, or vehicles involved. Include as many details as possible - age, height, weight, hair, clothing, and identifiable marks, not just sex and race. For vehicles, make, model, plate, and direction of travel are helpful.
3. Where - location matters. Provide specific streets or intersections whenever possible. If the location is in a large area such as a park, provide a landmark within that location where the incident occurred (e.g. “at Rogers Park, next to the restrooms”).
What behaviors do police consider to be suspicious?
Please note: While the below behaviors have been known to be consistent with criminal activity, it is entirely possible that there is a simple explanation for what you are seeing. For example, a person observed trying the handles of vehicles may be misinformed as to which car belongs to a friend or family member; a person observed loitering within a park may be a neighbor’s relative making a phone call before heading inside.
Consider the context. Take, for example, a person sitting in a parked car across the street. During the day, someone might pull over to make a phone call or send a text message and then drive away. At night, the context has changed, especially if the lights in the vehicle are off in a residential neighborhood.
Police associate these behaviors with potential criminal activity:
• Someone walking down the street looking into multiple vehicles and/or trying door handles to see if the doors will open.
• Someone taking a package from someone else’s property (keep in mind that sometimes neighbors leave or pick up packages for other neighbors).
• A person who is not your neighbor walking about your neighbor’s home and looking into windows, or trying to gain access by forcing open a window or door.
• A person knocking on your door and asking to speak with someone who does not live there and who may also go to other homes knocking on doors. This is a tactic used by people with the intent to burglarize to see if people are home. (Keep in mind that people may mistakenly go to the wrong home.)
• Someone claiming to represent a utility company who is either not wearing a uniform, does not produce identification upon request, or does not have a company logo vehicle.
• Someone using binoculars or other devices to peer into your or your neighbors’ homes.
• At night, a person sitting inside a vehicle that you do not recognize with the lights off for extended period of time.
• A pushy salesperson not producing identification upon your request or asking to come into your home.