Letters To The Editor

Treat vandalism to vehicles seriously

Again this past weekend vehicles were vandalized and pilfered on our South Hill block. Again we called the police and again were told that the Spokane Police handled these with telephone report.

There were three damaged vehicles within 100 yards of each other, indicating to us a group activity. We thought the police would take an interest.

The report taker asked if there were fingerprints; I couldn’t answer that. I was clearly told that the police would not dispatch an officer. This is an ongoing problem in our neighborhood but one that the police don’t seem to recognize as a “priority.”

Are there more important crimes to deal with? Certainly. Should we view it as simply property loss that drives up all our insurance rates? NO! It is of much greater import, and I contend that as an aggregate dollar value (it) may be of greater magnitude than the high-profile bank heists the police clearly recognize as a “priority.”

More important than the dollars and the hassle is the message that the South Hill can be used as a training ground for budding criminals. The investment in prioritizing this type of petty crime will well pay our community back.

The common “saw” is that this is a kid’s crime. Well these “kids” grow up to become much greater threats to our community.

Let’s get tougher on the “petty” and reduce the “heavy” we deal with later as these “kids” get bolder and bolder. Ira Amstadter Spokane