>> Can you ID Bellbrook car break-in suspects?
“People are just really reporting what’s going on,” Laveck said.
Laveck is the administrator, and each of the community’s nine zones has a moderator.
“I thought that it would be a good idea to have the community leading something where everybody was doing their part,” Laveck said.
At first he just invited his neighbors to the closed group.
“Everybody started inviting their neighbors and from there it just blew up,” he said.
The group has ballooned to around 1,300 people. Bellbrook only has about 7,000 residents.
>> Auto thieves in Dayton rely on drivers’ bad judgment
“Having the group is like knowing that there’s 1,300 sets of eyes out there watching,” Laveck said. “You can become a bit complacent when you live in a decent area.”
Now people are posting tips, photos and anything that might help catch the people who have stolen from their communities, and prevent new crimes. Just today, there were 52 new posts.
One thing members have noticed is cars with side mirrors folded in. They believe thieves are doing this to mark which vehicles they’ve checked.
So far, no arrests have been made in the rash of car break-ins over the last couple weeks.
Got a tip? Call our monitored 24-hour line, 937-259-2237, or send it to newsdesk@cmgohio.com
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