Community Corner

UPDATE: Resident's Home Burglary Information Was "Off"

Keep your eyes open for suspicious vehicles and individuals in your neighborhood, but always wait for the official statement.

 

A resident tipped us off about a few burglaries that allegedly happened in Orange – around 4-5 p.m. on Thursday.

According to this tip, one incident was on Cherry Hill during which someone broke in through the back door but didn’t take anything (the alarm may have scared them off), one on Ridgeview, one on Long Meadow and one on Robert Treat ext.

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

said the last three neighborhoods mentioned here are erroneous and the full information is provided in the press release that they sent out after their morning briefing on the incidents. 

If this seems like a lot of activity in one day, just think back to the fall of 2010, specifically September, October and November.

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

At that time e-mail blasts from concerned residents also included false information that, as we recall put police in a bad light. 

The is press friendly and when there is solid information to release, they quickly release it. But only after every "I" is dotted and "T" is crossed. 

If you are sending out an e-mail blast during the day, please send it to us, too, so we can verify the information before you alarm everyone. 

Even if we have to wait until late morning or early afternoon for an official statement, at least you know the information is accurate. 

In this case I was a party to unnecessarily concerning residents in three neighborhoods, I opened an e-mail at 2 a.m., which was too late to call the Chief or Asst. Chief for verification. I could have called the police station, but the Desk Sgt. or Lt. cannot give out information without the OK of one of the Chiefs.

My Logic: I thought it was important enough to release immediately and ran with it, letting readers know that the unverified information came from a resident.

Note: Trust in your police department, and know that they are out there serving and protecting you 24-7. If they had a description of the vehicle or suspects yesterday they would have informed you about it then. 

I still encourage you to give us your tips, but as in the past, I will be less spontaneous and verify the information before releasing it. (Even though I did state it was unconfirmed)


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