Moore meeting to focus on neighborhood crime

MOORE — Residents of the Plaza Towers area in southwest Moore have planned a meeting to discuss crime in their neighborhoods. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Southgate Baptist Church, 740 SW 4.

An officer with the Moore Police Department’s community services unit is scheduled to speak.

Resident Amber Posey said, “Our community would like to raise further awareness to the community and local law enforcement about the amount of criminal activity that has been on an alarming increase in the Plaza Towers neighborhood(s). Despite multiple reports to Moore PD from people in the area, it doesn’t seem like a lot is being done, and we’re desperate to feel safe again. These events have been happening essentially every single day and night for the past two months.”

Posey and others in the area have been active with the Nextdoor social media site, a Plaza Towers Facebook page and by handing out flyers. They want to set up a Neighborhood Watch group. She said 20 to 30 people have been active on a Nextdoor discussion group. She said “roughly 20 to 40 people” are expected at the Tuesday meeting.

Posey said the crimes include auto burglary, people walking into open garages and people gaining access to closed garages by stealing openers from vehicles. “One girl came home recently, and her door had been kicked in,” Posey said. She also complained of door-to-door salespeople who get angry when denied a sale.

Many houses in the area of Plaza Towers Elementary School, 852 SW 11, were destroyed, along with the school in the May 20, 2013, tornado. Posey’s home was among those destroyed. She was not able to move back into the area until January. She has lived in Moore since 2004.

Numerous homes have been rebuilt, and Posey said, “People are taking advantage of new homes and think they are full of new products.”

Moore police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis said if a crime is reported, police investigate. He said there have been crimes reported in the Plaza Towers area, “but no more than in other areas of Moore.”

Lewis said auto burglaries could be committed by juveniles in the area or from other neighborhoods.

Lewis said that so far in August, there have been 15 auto burglaries in all of Moore. He said that type of crime usually decreases after school resumes.

Lewis said another common crime is people walking into open garages and taking property. He said that happens in every area of the city. He said people need to close their garage doors if they are not in their front yards. He also stressed that vehicles and front doors should be locked. He said there was an Aug. 10 report of a door being kicked in on SW 11. There was an Aug. 5 report of patio furniture being taken from a residence in the Plaza Towers area.

Lewis said there are always extra police patrols at night throughout the city.