Lafayette residents packed an emergency safety meeting at Veteran’s Memorial Hall Wednesday after a recent rise in crime in what has been one of the safest cities in the Bay Area.
Lafayette locals are not taking the rise in crime lightly after two recent home invasions remain unsolved, and at the emergency meeting about 200 people showed up to request information from police about the recent crimes.
“I’d like to know what we’re dealing with, drugs or extreme poverty,” said Lafayette resident Elizabeth Dietsch. “Give me the mentality of the people that might be knocking at my door.”
The number of home burglaries in Lafayette has more than doubled in the past year with 15 reported so far in 2019. Of the two most recent incidents, the first took place on Martino Road, the second just three miles away. In both cases the suspects entered the home with a weapon and tied up the residents before stealing valuables.
“People have their cameras out there, seeing people in their backyards in the middle of the night,” said a local resident named Elaine. “It wasn’t like this even a year ago.”
The police chief said that they have been working around the clock to solve these most recent violent crimes and the city is calling on residents to be proactive.
“If you see someone coming up to you and you don’t know who they are, call us,” the police chief said.
