Luncheon Notes, May 17, 2011-05-23
Ellen Kosmer opened the meeting, substituting for President Vivienne Carey, who is away.
the police. Don’t touch anything or clean up. Finger prints could be on door knobs, Nancy Brose brought Melissa Kroodsma as her guest.
Announcements:
Phyllis introduced Sgt. Detective David Knightly who has worked for the Amherst Police Force for 25 years. He is in charge of the investigation of the many break-ins and robberies in the Amherst area within the last year.
Sgt. Knightly began by saying not to panic, that there are fewer break-ins this spring than there were last summer/fall. Moreover, the break-ins are not similar to those of last fall; copy-cats are common. He said that there has been one officer dedicated exclusively to the case for a year now, and the force is making good progress in solving the crimes.
Sgt. Knightly said that most break-ins occur between midnight and 4 AM. He offered many suggestions concerning safety measures in order to prevent a break-in:
Knightly also gave advice if/when a break-in does occur. He said to avoid confrontation with the intruder; lock yourself in a bedroom or bathroom and call police. If you come home to a break-in with things taken, walk out of the house, go to a neighbor’s and call windows, things moved, etc which are important to an investigation. Footprints are as important as fingerprints too. The Amherst Police have an in-house lab to test for prints, DNA and other vital information. The MA State Police labs are also used on occasion.
There were many questions that followed the talk, but Sgt. Knightly declined to answer those that may be related to the ongoing investigation.
Two Club members won the lottery for wine and money, but I don’t remember who they were.
Scribe for the day, Carolyn Holstein
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