Early crime in Clinton Hill area, plus alligator

Thomas Tracy's excellent reporting in The Brooklyn Paper's Police Blotter covers 15 crimes this week. The nature of the crimes break down as follows:

6 muggings
4 bag snatches
2 home robberies
1 assault
1 shoplifting
1 theft of laptop from car

Unfortunately, nothing is eyebrow-raising here, which means these types of crimes are all too typical and expected, as we can see this week to the tune of twice a day.

One thing did lift my eyebrows a little, though, and that's the times of the crimes.

Seven of the crimes took place during prime-time crime hours: 11:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. Many people are asleep during these hours. The streets are more deserted than in the daytime, so there is less chance of witnesses. Also, as a professional thief once told me, "windows are witnesses." People can't look out of their windows when they are asleep. Criminals are opportunists.

However, eight of the crimes were committed between 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. This is alarming, for these hours should be safer than prime-time due to the amount of "people traffic" as potential witnesses.

Clinton Hill-area criminals are getting desperate and brazen. This is a bad sign.

Another typical crime took place in Clinton Hill on Sunday, Sept.12, that we may not think of as typical. A guy lugged a two-foot long baby alligator into the police station, according to the NY Post. Brooklyn's Finest said, "It wasn't a big deal," [he said]. "We get people dropping off animals here all the time." Technically, "It is illegal to keep alligators at home, but the man was not arrested."

I agree with the police on this one. This policy is better for the animals.

Stay safe till next time, Clinton Hill.

Sources:

Joe Anuta, "Chew on This! Man dumps gator at 88th Precincthouse," NY Post
Thomas Tracy, "Police Blotter," The Brooklyn Paper