Break-ins unsettle the Pink Streets

The crimes buck a trend for Pinellas Point and for the city overall.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 19, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- Police have stepped up patrols in the Pink Streets of Pinellas Point after six burglaries in six weeks.

"It's not normally an area that we have burglaries in. In the last two months, we've had four. This month there were two, basically on the same day," said Sgt. John Rush, supervisor of community policing for the neighborhood.

"For the Pink Streets," said community police Officer Dean Clark, "that's a big deal."

Generally considered Pinellas Point's most expensive area, the Pink Streets are bounded by Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) and 22nd streets S, Pinellas Point Drive and Tampa Bay. The streets are made of pink concrete.

In addition to increased patrols, police have distributed fliers called "crime bulletins" and used "reverse 911," a computer-generated phone bank, to call Pink Streets residents to alert them about the crimes and seek their assistance.

"I just needed to prompt everybody," said Clark, the community officer, who added that he is already getting responses that may help to solve some of the crimes.

These burglaries buck a trend for the overall neighborhood and for the city at large.

Preliminary figures for the Pinellas Point area -- one of the city's largest neighborhoods -- show that burglaries were down 6.9 percent for the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year. Pinellas Point runs south of 54th Avenue S to Tampa Bay between 34th and Fourth streets. In raw numbers, there were 102 burglaries during the first six months of 1999 and 95 this year.

The first Pink Streets burglaries were small time. They occurred when garage doors were left open, said Clark, adding that in one instance three young boys stole laundry soap and bleach.

"Then we had houses broken into during the daytime. The houses were ransacked and nobody could find anything missing," Clark said.

About 11 days ago, Clark said, "Two houses were broken into during the midnight hours. They decided to take computers, TVs, VCRs, stereos and guns. Most of the guns are large rifle types and not pistols."

These last robberies were reported by a passer-by, who saw some of the stolen property scattered on the lawn of one of the burglarized homes.

"They must have found something they didn't want and decided to leave it there, or they could have gotten scared," Clark said.

The neighborhood also has been the victim of pranks involving trash containers and a 300-pound statue that was stolen from a lawn, the officer said.

Chris Born, president of the Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association, said the only indication he has had of problems in the neighborhood is a recent call from a homeowner.

"I have had no contact with the community officer," he said.

"Really, the crime that we see down here is all minor stuff and most of it is incidental burglary and car theft and so on. Other than that, it's the petty theft, bicycles and lawn equipment," said Born, who has lived in the community for 10 years.

"I don't see where there is a real big problem where crime goes down here."

Citywide, said Sgt. Maurice McGough, who is in charge of research and analysis for the Police Department, reports of burglary were down for the first six months of the year, compared to the same time last year.

"In 1999, we had fewer burglaries than we have ever had since 1971. This year, we look as though we're heading lower still," he said.

For instance, in the Challenge area, which runs from Fourth Street S to 34th Street S and Central Avenue to 30th Avenue S, burglaries were down 23.9 percent for the first six months of the year. For the same period in 1999, there were 373 burglaries. For this year, there have been 284, said McGough.

Burglaries in the Old Southeast were down 43.8 percent. There were nine burglaries in the first six months of this year, compared to 16 during the same period last year.

In Lakewood, McGough said preliminary data show that reports of burglaries were down 16.7 percent so far this year.

Burglaries in the North Shore area, which runs from Fifth Avenue N to 30th Avenue N and Fourth Street east to Tampa Bay, burglaries were up 11.5 percent during the first six months of this year. The actual number of burglaries were 68 this year, compared to 61 for 1999.

Residents should take basic precautions to protect themselves and their property from crime, Rush said.

"You have to make sure that when you leave home that your doors and windows are locked," he said.

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