Crime & Safety

Community Crime Watch Event Tuesday at Rosie O'Grady's

Recent crimes in Ferndale have pushed business owners to hold a "Community Crime Watch" meeting with the Ferndale Police Department to get tips on being safe.

Between . No one was injured in the incidents and the assailants in two were arrested while two others are still under investigation.

As a result, however, Jennifer Clotworthy, general manager at , reached out the and asked the department to talk with businesses owners and residents about crime prevention and personal protection.

"I think Ferndale is a safe place, we just want to make it safer," Clotworthy said.

Find out what's happening in Ferndalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The crime watch event will be 7-10 p.m. Tuesday at Rosie O'Grady's, and is open to all businesses and residents , Clotworthy said.

Ferndale Police Sgt. Baron Brown said he'll discuss what businesses owners and residents should do in the event of an armed robbery. 

Find out what's happening in Ferndalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We'll talk about prevention and what the standard protocol is when involved in a robbery," Brown said.

The basic rule, Brown said, is to do whatever the robber says. "Be compliant. Your life is in danger," he said.

"We need the information to protect ourselves and each other," Clotworthy said. "We're a small community; we help each other out."

Clotworthy added that if the business owners and residents who show up would like to hold another Community Crime Watch meeting, Rosie O'Grady's would be happy to host it.

Brown said former Ferndale Police Chief Michael Kitchen met with the Ferndale Area Chamber of Commerce at one time, but a community event like this with the police department hadn't happened in recent memory.

Crime: Summer 2010 vs. 2011

Here are the crime statistics for June and July of 2010, compared with those months in 2011, according to Oakland County's Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System (CLEMIS).

Crime*

June 2010

June 2011

July 2010

July 2011

Assaults

53

60

73

47

Burglary and Larceny

68

58

73

60

Robbery

4

1**

2

3

Vehicle Theft

4

7

7

8

*Crimes include a variety of incidents within the listed crime. For example: Assaults include those with a firearm, without a firearm and intimidation. Robberies include armed robberies and strong arm robberies. Burglary and Larceny include everything from larceny from a vehicle to larceny from a self-serve gas station pump.

**CLEMIS numbers show that the June 19 armed robbery is not tallied. The Ferndale Police Department is looking into the issue but confirm that there were in fact two robberies in June -- A strong-arm robbery on June 16 (listed in CLEMIS) and the armed robbery on June 19 (not listed in CLEMIS). The Police Department said it is currently working to update that number with Oakland County.

To view all of the CLEMIS statistics, go here.


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