Mount Pleasant DC Forum

[Barnett Dahl]

My car has been broken into 3 times in the 4 months I have lived in Mount Pleasant. Nothing has been stolen, because I never leave anything in the car, but the cost and hassle of replacing the window has me thinking of moving back to Virginia. Is there ANYTHING I can do to prevent this from happening? Car alarm? The club? "No Radio" sign? Leave the car unlocked?

[Jeff]

You need a car alarm with a visible flashing light and window stickers. I have lived in MP and Adams Morgan for the last 5 years and have at times left things in the car and never have had a problem.

I believe the thieves are mostly kids. I have seen teenagers casing cars many times. If they see that an alarm is going to go off, they seem to decide it is not worth the risk.

[Officer TK Mattingly]

Barnett Dahl, welcome to the neighborhood! I am sorry to hear of the car break-in problem you are having.

I would like to offer a few suggestions:

1. The Auto Club is a very good deterrent. I use it on my car when I park it on the street.

2. Park in a well lit area.

3. Car Alarm is helpful and a preventative measure, but an expensive one.

4. Perhaps renting a off-street parking space from someone. Good luck with this suggestion. It is rather hard to find off-street parking.

5. Take preventative measures as you already have (leaving nothing inside the car).

It would be a good idea if the city would build a large parking garage for us to park in that way it would free up the street parking. The likly hood of that happening is very slim, however. It is good to dream.

The neighborhood as a whole is a terrific place to live but, yes it has its down parts one of them is the parking situation.

Good Luck!

Ofc. Mattingly

[John B.]

Do you have DC license plates? It can make a big difference.

[Dominic Sale]

I agree about the alarm. I've been here over a year now without incident (knock on wook) and I've parked in some shady places. I give credit to my factory VW alarm with red flashing lights.

Thanks again to Officer Mattingly for providing sound advice from a cop's perspective.

[Barnett Dahl]

Thanks for the tips. I have DC plates, and my car is worth under $1000, so a car alarm seems like a waste of money. I also have a club. And I have been searching for a parking space without any luck at all.

What I finally did, after a tip from my brother who lived in NYC, is put a big sign in the vent windows (which were always the ones being broken) saying "No Radio, Nothing in Car". No problem since then, and it has been 3 months. Knock on wood!

One more question. Yesterday, as I walked home at 5 pm though Meridian Hill/Malcom X park, I saw 3 teenage boys VERY openly rolling a joint. I didn't know what to do. I looked for a police officer in the park, but there weren't any around. I didn't want to clog 911 with what was NOT an emergency, but when I called the non-emergency number I ended up hanging up after being on hold for 20 minutes. What should I do in such a case? I care a lot about the park, and want it to be a safe place.

[Dominic Sale]

Barnett,

I am not surprised at your 20 minute wait on 311 because the same thing has happened to me trying to call in "lesser" crimes around the neighborhood. I also find it sad that it is apparently acceptable to many people, and perhaps the police, that there are people openly drinking and doing drugs (marijuana is the least I've seen) in our parks. The parks in this area, including potentially beautiful Meridian Park, have been taken over by vagrants and drug abusers, pushing away local residents and causing safety concerns, especially for children. I'm not sure about how to combat this trend, but I think that calling it in to emergency services is the only effective way to let the city know it's important. I've called in drug use before and the police usually respond pretty quickly. We'll take on the emergency phone number delays as a whole separate issue! Good luck and drop me an email if you'd like to discuss these issues some more.