Dealing With a Rise in Crime
Natacha Fernandez-Smith avoids going inside her guest house. On December 10, 2018, burglars stole an estimated $5,000 worth of property, and now she is too uncomfortable to go back in.
A few days after the incident, surveillance cameras caught suspicious individuals examining Fernandez-Smith’s residential house. On January 2, 2019, she became the victim of a second burglary as an estimated $600 worth of property was taken. “I felt fairly safe [in Waldo],” Fernandez-Smith said. “I never even thought of like someone trying to harm us or anyone here. So it took me by surprise when someone actually broke in.” |
As she walks down her block, Theresa Adams' arms start growing weary from all the house pointing. Every single house she identified was burglarized within the past five months. She moved into Waldo with hopes of living in a quiet community, but recently she’s been overwhelmed from neighbors chattering about the increasing crime on her block.
“I don't want to feel not safe,” she said. “I want my neighbors to feel safe. I want us to meet at the corner talking and laughing like we used to do. Now we'll talk about ‘Did you notice this? And did you notice that?’ I don’t like that part.” Fernandez-Smith and Adams are one of the many victims of the rising theft epidemic in Waldo. The Alachua County Sheriff Office documented 24 residential burglaries in 2018. To Waldo residents that number is more than double the burglaries of 2017. The increasing trend has followed Waldo into this year, with 19 property crimes reported since January.
Residents say they believe that the lack of state patrol in Waldo encourages delinquents to burglarize the area. Since the shutdown of the Waldo Police Department in 2014, residents rely on the Alachua County Sheriff Department for law enforcement. With the city unable to afford continuous patrolling in the community, Waldo calls in the Sheriff Department as needed. Unfortunately, residents claim officers take up to 40 minutes to arrive at a crime scene. With no progress made on the crime epidemic, residents of Waldo continue to lock their doors, purchase surveillance cameras, and note plate numbers of suspicious vehicles.
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