Perhaps my FoPo newbie status make me more shocked about these things. The City of Portland’s crime map for the area (left) certainly indicates that property crimes aren’t all that unusual for our piece of PDX. Still, when a friend on nearby 72nd told me about her burglary, my usually buoyant optimism about FoPo dropped a touch. Someone recently broke into her backyard shed and stole her bikes, and while she and her husband were sleeping in the house, no less.

Have you been the victim of a property crime? How did you respond?

Sometimes hearing about a neighbor’s misfortune stirs us to action. Is crime here bad enough to warrant organization? (I thought we were doing pretty well until hearing this– after all, the police officer who spoke at last week’s neighborhood association meeting reported that property crimes are at an all-time low across the city…) What should/can do to reduce crime in our neighborhood? My housemate and honey said that he’d be willing to walk the streets as part of a neighborhood watch association– would you do the same?