Tehachapi News

Tricia, were we in 4-H and FFA together? I graduated in 1990, and if you're the Tricia I'm thinking of, you're a couple years younger than me... maybe. I have a terrible memory.

Is the Police Log in the online version of the Tehachapi News?? I couldn't find it.

Swilli, when I was a kid we always had a police blotter in the paper, but I can't recall if those were "Police" or "Sheriff's Substation" days... We've gone back and forth a couple times. My grandma will be able to tell me precisely when we had a police dept. and when we had a sheriff's dept... I owe Granny a call anyhow, so I'll ask her. Jon Hammond would also have the answer on the tip of his tongue. Oh Jon, where are you when we need you?? I suppose I also owe Jon a call or a letter.

This doesnt sound like the Tehachapi I grew up in either....So does any one in town really know what the scope was on this assault????Sure would like to know since i am 2000 miles away and this has involved some of my family members and I happen to see it in the antalope valley press first...and this family member isnt telling the rest of the family and so therfor Im in the complete dark..... let me know please cause I know the town is talking

Awsmom, let me guess... Keys to the pick-up are either on the floorboard or above the visor? 

While you all are looking for house keys, look for the keys to my folks' house... I never saw a key to it. I always thought they chunked it the day they installed the hardware on the doors, but who knows??

I haven't been in Tehachapi as long as most of you folks so I brought my big city safety habits with me.  I do lock doors and windows.  When I had been here for only a year, a friend had a purse snatched after she put it on top of her car while unloading stuff from her trunk.  Long-time Tehachapi residents were shocked.  "Not in Tehachapi," they said.  Another friend, who always left her garage door open while at home, had items taken from there in the middle of the day.  Now she keeps the garage door closed and has installed a privacy screen door at her front entrance.  The first thing I did when I moved here was install a peep hole in my front door.

Unless my memory is faulty (who me?), I don't recall police logs in the paper before we had a police department.  I don't think the Sheriff' made that information so easily available.  If so, that may be why there appears to be a sudden rise in crime.  We just didn't know about it before. 

Several months after I moved here, there were two murders on E street (I think).  Then there was another out on Valley just past Great Wall.  I think, all told, there were seven murders that year.  There have numerous drug raids at the apartments on Valley near Mill and at the apartments on Cherry.  Maybe the publishing of the police log is just making others more aware of crime in the Tehachapi area.

Well it would seem we already have some shady people on this blog site. :( What kind of person hacks into other peoples accounts?

Let's hope criminals don't read this blog.... and start turning doorknobs.....; )

Hey Gube! If you look for your house keys see if you can find mine! Not only do I not lock my door, but I leave my keys in my truck so my neighbors can borrow it when they need to!

christibdce yes you are right about crimes of opportunity...And believe me that some day I might co0me home and find my computer gone ( all you gube haters can only hope) but until then I choose to live vicariously.....lol

I heard a rumor....that a new way people are getting burglarized is.... knock at the door technique...criminals with what looks like handouts or fake business cards go to the front door and actually knock.....no one answers....free pickens. 

Don't tell your insurance company that Gube!!!!! hehe ; )

Not locking your door is like crossing the train tracks without looking.  Most of the time there's no train. But then one day there is.

Gube,

Actually, locks usually DO stop them, since it no longer would be the statistical majority for the people you listed: a crime of opportunity (the opportunity being an unlocked house).  I doubt we have any "professional" home invaders here yet, so the most basic precautions would deter anyone looking to capitalize on the misplaced trust in a "Safe town".  Living in a great place does not mean there are no bad people around.  Locking your doors does not equal living in fear.

christibdce I am one of those unsafe characters that don't know where my house keys are............I have never locked my doors and I have no plans to start now............If a thief or a doper wants to brake into my house no lock will stop him...........I will not live in fear....................

I was just going to say those guys were from Lancaster, Notso!  I grew up here and never used to lock my car, but started to do so after moving up north for about 3 years. My parents never locked our front door growing up...people would just walk in and out and no one would notice is was always so busy there. I always used to say that their house was a theifs dream! They could walk in and take whatever they wanted even when people were HOME and no one would notice!! Only problem is we never really had anything worth stealing. lol They started locking their stuff up about 5 years ago.

People need to be more observant around here that is for sure and willing to go with their gut. I remember about a year ago I was in a grocery store parking lot and saw a man with a wire hanger trying to open a car door. The car was covered and most probably wouldn't have though to much about it, but the guy was acting nervous about doing it and when he saw me looking at him he actually STOPPED! Now if it was your car why would you care if people were looking at you trying to open it? So I went inside and told a few male workers what I had seen. They didn't even want to go check it out! I told them that it was their parking lot and so it was partially their responsibility. I couldn't believe they didn't even want to check up on it! Finally, I just told them to call the police then. I never did find out what happened.

Absolutely, lock up your cars and home.  Those gang bangers that robbed the Chevron were from Lancaster.....just passing through crime.......nuh uh......they came up here, because they knew low crime, less police (than Lancaster) and easy get-away because of the on ramp.

This is sort of related... I come from Orange County, mostly (lived in LA County for a year), and it boggles my mind sometimes to see how a lot of people are NOT safety-conscious up here.  I've seen countless cars (especially in winter) left running in front of a store, heard stories about people who don't even know where their own house keys are because they haven't locked a door in so long.  It's unimaginable to me to INVITE crime like that.  Yes, this is a great town that is safer than most within 100 miles, but that doesn't mean that there is no possibility of crime happening to you - just read this blog post!

Please, people, use common sense.  Take at least minimal safety measures and we have a great chance of lowering the crime rate in this already low crime area.  Those "criminals that are passing through" - or even the average local who is down on their luck and in a weak moral position - won't care that you have been living a certain way for years (unlocked doors, etc.).  They will take advantage of people who don't use the common sense God gave them.  Don't put the temptation out there.

Also, send your kids to basic self-defense and safety classes before you send them off to college to get them ready for the "big city."  And teach them common sense safety stuff now.

Okay, I'm getting off of my sister of a Sheriff's Deputy soapbox now.

 People are flipping.   The economy is in the toilet, working class people that were once looking at their portfolio and planning retirement are now questioning if they can even do so.....how do you think people are doing making the bare minimum and still come up short every month that have no savings in the bank..... I think we will see MORE  crime!!!   People have been resorting to stealing copper pipe to car parts....  I predict this trend will continue.....even in our little Tehachapi......more so if they allow subsidized housing.

Joty, I saw that story as well.  I was quite surprised when they said he was from Tehachapi. 

Scottso, I came from a low crime area, Acton.  Acton is policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff Dept.  We lived there for over 12 years.  In that 12 years, not one time did I see the sheriff patrol our neighborhood.  The only time we saw them was when there was a brush fire or someone called 911, usually for a snake bite or some such thing.  Just prior to moving here, we had a domestic violence incident at the property adjoining ours. This incident involved a husband putting a gun to his wife's head.  It took over 30 minutes for us to get 911 out there.  30 minutes with a gun involved!  I always felt safe in Acton but after that, I stopped feeling as safe and was glad our house was in escrow. 

Cut to Tehachapi.  I see Tehachapi PD all the time.  We live on a cul-de-sac and a patrol car actually came down our street a couple of days ago, just cruising.  My husband commented on it because we are not used to law enforcement actually patrolling.  Even though Tehachapi is larger than Acton, I feel safer here.  Partly because ALOT of our neighbors work in various areas of law enforcement.  But, also because we actually see the presence of police around town.

I don't know the ratio of officers to population in either Acton or Tehachapi.  I do know that when we began looking at moving here, several websites that rate crime indexes have Acton and Tehachapi rated similarly.  In others Tehachapi fares better.  That being said,  I feel that the law enforcement presence is much better here than there.  I'm sure that there always room for improvement, but, on the other hand, it could always be worse.  Just my opinion.

A touch of irony this morning related to Scott's statement. Turns out a mall in Bakes had to be closed down yesterday because of an older (73) man from Tehachapi had what they thought might have been a bomb in his car...mall security recognized him as he'd been there before waving a gun. He was arrested for having an assault rifle, but the bomb was fake...

Scottso:

You pose some great questions that could be posed to our City Council candidates. As far as which criminals are locals and who is just passing through... I'm not really sure where to go for that information, but surely one of our public servants should be able to cough it up.

An interesting question is how much of that crime is from people located in our town or just passing through?  We are on a pretty busy route between the I-5 and the I-15 and also the only significant town between the two until you get much farther south.  I think that has as much to do with the amount of crime as anything in my humble opinion.  Does anyone know what our ratio of police to citizen is here?  And how does it compare to other towns that are "low crime areas?"

I sure hope this is the case. Bad week to read the police logs I guess! lol

We had a bad week. Tehachapi is still a good place.

As always GregL, you are the voice of reason. 

Yes, it's disconcerting to hear about all that stuff, but my guess is that it's not out of the ordinary for a city this size.  When I was younger, I used to listen to the police on my scanner and could not believe how much 'stuff' was happening, not here in Tehachapi, but whatever city I happened to be in.  I think there's probably always much more going on in any city than folks realize.  My advice is don't listen to a police scanner, and maybe not read the blotter either.  It's kind of similar to watching all the doom and gloom on the news, it doesn't serve any useful purpose.  When I catch my wife watching the 'news' in the morning before work, I ask her if she's benefitted or learned anything useful from watching that garbage.  The answer is always 'no'.

I agree.  I was really surprised and concerned when I saw the last police blotter.  Rape? Jumped and robbed in the Chevron restroom?  I am hoping it was just fluke thing that so much happened in one week.  One of the reasons we settled in Tehachapi was that it seemed very safe here.  Depsite the rough week though, I still feel safe. I hope it stays that way.  We like it here so very much.