Without the help of community members, two incidents in Kewaunee County this week may still be getting worked on by local law enforcement. A Luxemburg man was able to help the Luxemburg Police Department and Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department locate four teenagers firing off weapons Monday while under the influence of marijuana and alcohol. Community members also helped deputies track down the owner of a van involved in a hit and run south of Algoma, which damaged a guardrail as well as the vehicle itself. Kewaunee County Sheriff Matt Joski says it shows the importance of the community and law enforcement working together.
Joski says a series of citations are coming for the person involved in the hit and run accident He also reminds people that if they help others involved in an incident to make sure local law enforcement is contacted.
FROM SHERIFF MATT JOSKI
From time to time I like to revisit various topics as they stay relevant throughout the years. I recently gave a talk in regards to facility security and the question came up about calling in suspicious activity. This question is directly related to the aspect of Crime Prevention. The willingness of our residents to engage with their local law enforcement is the foundation solid crime prevention, and it begins with each and every one of us. We all have a stake in the preservation of the quality of life we experience here in Kewaunee County. Many times we begin to take on a false sense of security believing that crimes could not occur in our communities, while they are few and far between, it is our vigilance which maintains this tranquility.
We do have crimes which are committed and most times, law enforcement is able to develop leads and ultimately solve these cases. I wanted to revisit the issue of crime prevention and hopefully bring to bear the increased awareness of the community in helping to both solve these incidents as well as prevent those in the future.
The first component to Crime Prevention is reporting suspicious activity. Many times we may see something that looks out of ordinary, or is in fact downright suspicious. Unfortunately many times we do not go any further due to our busy lives, or our desire not involve ourselves in someone else’s business. For there to be effective crime prevention, we all need to realize our obligation to our neighbors and our communities, and this may mean that sometimes we get involved by calling in suspicious persons or activity. Once law enforcement responds there are two possible outcomes. The first is that the person or activity has a legitimate purpose and we can wish them well and move on. The second is that the person or activity is in fact suspicious and our contact with them could lead to the solving of a past crime or better yet the prevention of a future crime. The bottom line is we all need to be a part of the solution.
The second part to Crime Prevention is eliminating easy targets. While I would love to say we can live in a community where we do not lock our doors, I would be openly encouraging an environment of easy targets. There is an old saying that locks keep out the honest people, and there is some truth to that. While there will always be those people in our midst who may be inclined to steal, the more barriers we can put before them the more we limit their access to our valuables. If nothing else the barriers will force them to expend more effort in the commission of their crime increasing the likelihood that they will be noticed.
These barriers are very simple. They include preventions such as: Locking doors of buildings and vehicles. Securing valuables, whether that is a piece of equipment in the yard or valuables in your home or vehicle. Making a record of your valuables so that if taken they can be more accurately reported and effectively recovered. The most important barrier is to be part of your community by noticing and if need be reporting those things that seem out of the ordinary. We should be very proud of the high quality of law enforcement we have in our communities, but we would be negligent by saying we can do it all. A community where law enforcement and citizens work together always has been and always will be a better community.
