West Laurel mulls community watch

Throughout the county, police have seen a spike in theft from autos, which now surpasses auto thefts. At this time last year there were 2,169 reported thefts from autos, compared to 2,586 reports so far this year — a 19.2 percent increase.

This isn’t the first time Chris Colvin, a West Laurel resident for 13 years, has been hit by crime in the neighborhood. She has lived in her current home on Bradford Drive for three and a half years, and in that time, cars in the driveway have been broken into twice.

Colvin and her husband installed a home security about two weeks ago, after an electric scooter, mountain bikes and $1,000 worth of Girl Scout cookies were stolen.

‘‘I’m the cookie mom for our troop, and I had to replace them immediately,” she said. ‘‘It’s a little disheartening that I’m out a thousand bucks.”

The cookies had been preordered after Colvin stood for weeks in front of grocery stores with her daughter and other Girl Scouts, soliciting purchases.

A couple of months ago, someone stole some money out of a vehicle parked in front of Joanne Olsufka’s home. She and her family have been more cautious since a Feb. 28 incident, in which someone stole her husband’s truck while the family was at home during the evening. It was found crashed into a tree nearby, but items were stolen from the truck.

‘‘We need to be more careful with leaving things out,” she said.

Down the street, Olsufka’s sister-in-law, Lisa Horseman, has taken precautionary measures since items were stolen from inside of her car and from neighbors’ cars. She now makes sure all her car doors are locked and never leaves her home’s front door open.

‘‘I used to think nothing of being in my house and leaving my front door unlocked,” Horseman said. ‘‘It’s unfortunate when you feel like you can’t be in your house with your door unlocked.”

Horseman already has a home security system, but it doesn’t protect the garage. Since the most recent crimes, her husband has barricaded their garage’s unprotected windows.

Police have launched ‘‘Project Overdrive” to educate residents on how to protect themselves from being victims of such crimes, especially theft from autos. Police recommend wiping away GPS windshield suction cup markings, always locking car doors and recording serial numbers of portable electronics to help track them in pawn shops.

Mary Lehman, president of the West Laurel Civic Association, said the organization is urging residents to consider starting a neighborhood watch group. There will be an informational meeting on how to start a group at the Beltsville Library Branch at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Capt. Scott Haines of District 6 police said he’s urging community members to start a neighborhood watch.

‘‘They’re our eyes and ears out there,” he said. ‘‘When a community comes together and wants to start up [a neighborhood watch], we see great success.”

Lehman said in December, District 6 police hosted a neighborhood watch overview forum in West Laurel, but attendance was low — five people showed. She hopes the most recent rash in crimes, and the amount of concern in the community, will impel people to attend the upcoming meeting.

‘‘We’ve seen spikes like this before,” Lehman said. ‘‘I think most people agree that when the economy gets bad, you definitely see more of this kind of activity.”

Haines said the police have no data on a correlation between a downturn in the economy and the recent crimes, but that such a link ‘‘only makes sense.”

Colvin, like other residents affected by the crimes, has taken protective measures and has no intentions of moving because of them.

‘‘This is truly our community, and I really have an optimistic, glass-half-full kind of mentality,” Colvin said. ‘‘I just simply will not give up and move away.”

E-mail Elahe Izadi ateizadi@gazette.net.