While crime doesn’t happen very often in Hinsdale and nearby areas, residents and students should know about it and how to avoid it. In order to learn more about the crimes that do happen, school police officer, Daniel Mazepa, discussed how to prepare for a variety of crimes that happen here. 

One common crime that happened on many occasions and received a lot of attention are car robberies. Car robberies involve the burglar breaking into a victim’s car and either taking things from the car or stealing the car altogether.

“All three of my neighbor’s cars were broken into; luckily nothing important was taken. There wasn’t any serious damage, except one of the car’s had a broken window,” said Genny Haarlow, junior.

According to Officer Mazepa, most criminals will target people and residences in the evening. 

“Night time there [are] more car burglaries… and occasionally we’ll have vehicles get stolen,” Officer Mazepa said. “We’ve had had a few instances but I wouldn’t say it’s common enough to be a norm in Hinsdale.”

However, the norm of Hinsdale would include general crimes. Hinsdale’s crime rate tends to stay very low. Though generally, some crime does happen. According to Neighborhood Scouts, chances of being a victim of crime in Hinsdale are 1 in 95, safer than 65 percent of cities/towns in the entire US.  

“[Types of crime include] residential alarms, fraud reports, traffic crashes, and community engagement (dealing with people),” Officer Mazepa said. “It’s responding to whatever on a day-to-day basis.”

Violent crime does not happen often in Hinsdale. “Our town does not experience, particularly, violent crime; the majority of things we might deal with here are domestic issues,” Officer Mazepa said.

Some have their own opinions on why crime still happens in relatively peaceful places like Hinsdale.

“We are used to living in this bubble thinking nothing bad is going to happen,” Haarlow said. “Now however, I see signs on the streets that warn to lock my car; my mom even makes sure to tell me to lock my car.”

As new drivers, teenagers risk being victims to crime. “We’re always running around, not really being serious, and are being ignorant that there are robbers out there,” Haarlow said. “I forget [to lock my car] sometimes if I’m rushing somewhere or I’m doing some small task, like picking up food.”

Officer Mazepa said teenagers should take time to learn about the crimes happening near them so they are at least aware of precautions to take. 

“(As for being more susceptible to crime,) it would involve educating [teenagers] on actual parts of the law,” Officer Mazepa said. “It’s either a lack of knowing, or just educating them on some things.”