10/15/14 Update  – Home Safety Education Presentation by OPPD Crime Prevention

In light of the recently renewed burglaries in Overland Park area, the Overland Park Police Department’s Crime Prevention team will make a 45-min presentation focusing solely on Preventing Thefts.

Topic of Presentation: Safety / Crime Prevention Education to Homeowners

Who : OP PD Crime Prevention Officer Bill Koehn
When : Thursday10/16/2014 7PM
Where : Training rooms at Sanders Justice Center (12400 Foster, Overland Park, KS )

Seating is limited to about 100 attendees but the presentation will be made available online soon through all possible channels after the presentation.If you have specific questions to ask, please email them to one of the following and we will consolidate the questions and ask at the end of the presentation.

Sridhar Harohalli harosree@yahoo.com

Venkat Manda venkat@kcdesi.com

You can also email watchinkc@gmail.com, the Neighborhood Watch leadership group.

2/13/14 Update  – Continue to be Vigilant

OPPD Detective Hulse has just confirmed to us that there have been two other burglaries on 2/10 and 2/11 in South Overland Park home of ‘Asian descent’. In one of the burglaries, a possible suspect and a vehicle were observed in front of the home but more details are not yet released at this point pending investigations. OPPD Patrol division is on high alert and will keep us updated on progress as soon as they possibly can.We want to emphasize for you to continue to vigilant and to report suspicious individuals/vehicles to your respective Police departments. Please also talk to your immediate neighborhood and make sure to start a neighborhood watch discussion within your own immediate community. Watch this space for further updates.

2/8/14 Update  – Follow-up meeting & KCTV5 Interview:

We have a followup meeting with the Police Chief scheduled for next week. The plan is to meet with them to assess the current situation and seek answers to some of the outstanding questions.In case you have anything in particular you want us to ask the authorities, please send it to  watchinkc@gmail.com.Here are some questions, we have in mind:

  • Is there another update – after DET. ERIK HULSE  informed us about an organized and prolific group travelling and  committing burglaries.
  • Has the authorities determined or found any connections among the incidents that took place in Overland Park area?
  • Any possibility (or hope) to recover stolen valuables from the gang ?
  • Are there any additional incidents reported in Kansas City since December? If yes, do we see any pattern
  • If there are no additional incidents reported since December, Can it re-surface at some point (based on trend the department may have) or can we consider we have a closure.KCTV5 Interview KCTV 5 had an interview last evening as a follow up to the meet with the police Chief we had in Decemeber and also based on the updated we all got from detective Erik Hulse.This was telecast last night on KCTV5.http://www.kctv5.com/story/24668424/targeted-overland-park-residents-band-together-against-burglars.1/28/14 Update  – from OPPD: It’s been some time since we spoke and although there haven’t been concrete developments in our investigation, we have gathered some promising information about a traveling group that may have been responsible for the burglaries in your community. A highly organized and prolific group based in Texas is believed to travel throughout the United States committing burglaries identical in method and victimology to the burglaries in Johnson County.  Some members of this group have been identified, and in fact, a couple of them are currently in custody in Texas. At this point, we have not been able to establish a direct connection between members of this group and the Johnson County burglaries, but we are in contact with local and federal law enforcement authorities in Texas and OPPD will certainly let us know when/if anything promising is developed.12/14/13 Update:.An incident happened last evening in the Forest Glenn Neighborhood. After that we contacted the police to verify the information and get some updated. Please see below for the update:“The police is investigating the matter and they have confirmed to us that no arrests have been made. Please do not assume anything unless we have heard back from the  authorities. Divulging the exact progress of any ongoing investigation could damage the investigation and could alert the perps. At this point, we will request you to cooperate with the authorities, provide only ‘factual’ information. We want everyone to maintain calm and not exaggerate when reporting an incident. It may be counter productive and cause unnecessary anxiety….this forum is to share facts to best of our knowledge….thank you for your cooperation.12/14/13 Update:An incident happened last evening in the Forest Glenn Neighborhood. After that we contacted the police to verify the information and get some updated. Please see below for the update:“The police is investigating the matter and they have confirmed to us that no arrests have been made. Please do not assume anything unless we have heard back from the  authorities. Divulging the exact progress of any ongoing investigation could damage the investigation and could alert the perps. At this point, we will request you to cooperate with the authorities, provide only ‘factual’ information. We want everyone to maintain calm and not exaggerate when reporting an incident. It may be counter productive and cause unnecessary anxiety….this forum is to share facts to best of our knowledge….thank you for your cooperation.”It has been brought to our attention that recently there has been an abnormally high number of burglaries targeting Indian households in Johnson County, particularly in the Southern Johnson County area. We are hearing reports that thieves break open the front door and come in while the home owners are not at home and steal the gold/silver articles, but do not touch any other items. Also, we have learnt that the burglaries are happening between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm during the twilight time. However, caution should be used at all times.Please check doors and windows and make sure they have been secured properly. Additionally, if you are planning on being out of town for extended periods, please be sure to notify community policing at the overland police department. This group is responsible for assisting communities patrol the neighborhood and ensuring safety.Be alert, cautious and keep your precious items in a safe place and watch your surroundings and report any suspicious activity to your nearest police station. For your convenience the phone numbers of police for the cities in Johnson County is listed here along with their websites. However, if you you see anything suspicious, call 911 immediately.

    Prevention Tips: When you are not at HOME.

  • Do what you can to give the impression that your residence is occupied
  • Vehicles in the driveway
  •  Lights on (timers)

 

  • Do NOT advertise the fact that you’re not home (short trips OR vacations)
  • Casual conversation
  • Social Media (FB, Twitter, etc.)

 

  • Secure Your Valuables
  • Safety Deposit Box
  • More securely in your own home (like storage areas or containers otherwise marked)
  • Homes are being thoroughly ransacked though, so temporary removal might be useful.

     

Always call 911 when you see suspicious activity!

Please contact us at communityalert@iakc.org if you have any questions/concerns/information.