Police to Take Aim at Vandalism, Car Break-Ins

The police department will take aim at nighttime neighborhood crimes that accelerate during warm-weather months.

Police Chief Charles Goss said the department is launching a special patrol to try to curb vandalism and thefts from vehicles this spring and summer.

"We're going to re-double our efforts on property crimes in residential areas," Goss said.

The department will send out officers on foot and on bikes to try to catch people vandalizing property or stealing from vehicles, although the chief acknowledges those are tough crimes to curtail.

"It's a little bit of a game of 'Battleship,'" Goss said. "Those are difficult offenses to catch."

Officers will have to try a hit-or-miss approach by leaving their cars and walking or biking quietly through a neighborhood at night, hoping to surprise the culprits.

There were 208 thefts from autos reported in Strongsville last year, up from 152 in 2010.

There were 196 vandalism reports, plus 278 incidents of damage to private property, according to the .

Goss has added the focus on neighborhood crime to his strategic goals this year, saying in the annual report he wants to conduct "nighttime surveillances, foot patrols, bike patrols and other non-traditional patrol techniques," as well as meeting with homeowners' associations.

The department will also enforce the city's curfew as a way to help control night crime.