As many of you know we have closed the website and will no longer be reporting crimes mainly because of continued lack of reporting by the expats. Several people have volunteered to take over the website - but in one case they wanted a change in focus and in another they lacked the technical skills.
The purpose of the website has always been for expats to report crimes; with a fairly recent addition of a supplemental feature - local news which included information and links to newspaper articles and other information (in the rumor category) when we had a reliable second source. We also edited crime reports to ensure that no accusations were made against others - where you could identify the person accused - unless they were found guilty by the Ministerio Publico. That approach worked for us for more than 3.5 years.
If someone wants to continue with the crime reports, we are happy to provide the website files to a trustworthy and knowledgeable person - with the caveat that local news, if continued, be continued in the same vein. At this point, we do have one party that has expressed interest - and they should make a decision in the next few weeks.
We will retain the files for a year - and the website will disappear around the 20th.
We thank those for their support throughout the years - it has been appreciated - Mitch
May 9 - Chapala.com just started a new forum where people can discuss local crime called Crime Watch and then Area Crimes. And, as many of you know, a group called Community Service Initiative (CSI) was formed last year "Our sole purpose is to serve only as a consultant group and to support the enhancement of the Ministerio Publico, as well as the public security of our Municipality."
With both of these in place (the CSI Team and the Chapala Area Crimes Forum), we feel that there is no longer a need for www.lakesidecrime.com. Crime reports are significantly down - the last break in reported to us happened over a month ago in the municipality of Jocotepec and almost two months ago in the municipality of Chapala. So yes, we also lacked community support; crimes were happening but not being reported to the website. Our estimate has always been that about 10% to 15% of expat crimes were reported to the website.
As violence at Lakeside increased, so did the number of unique visitors. Growth has been steadily increasing - but still a very small subset of the local expat population. This local news information was a sideline started about a year ago - and not part of the reason the site was originally created and is not a reason to keep the site in existence. It is, however, a good topic for the Chapala.com new forum.
So we say adiós. Thank you all for your support in the past. We wish both CSI and the Area Crimes at Chapala.com the best.
The information on the website will be available until about May 20th - when the domain name renewal comes up - and we will not renew. Please do not offer to renew for us - as this time we are really permanently passing the baton on to Chapala.com Area Crime Forum and CSI.
Here is the link for the CSI - Community Service Initiative - Facebook Page www.facebook.com/CSIChapala
Here is the link for the Chapala Area Crimes Forum http://www.chapala.com/webboard/index.php?showforum=12 update May 15 - this forum was especially short lived and is now deleted.
And we thank you for your support for the last few years - with a special thanks to several volunteers - you know who you are!!! Regards Mitch
We have also included an article from The Guadalajara Reporter Oct 7, 2011. When the 90 days were up, we had not made a decision - decided to see what happened. As for the request for volunteers - 3 people volunteered - which left most of lakeside with no volunteers. Click here to see the very poor results.
guadalajarareporter.com FRIDAY, OCTOBER 07 2011
After a brief hiatus apparently prompted by citizen complacency, the Lakeside Crime Watch website is back online this week, to continue on a 90-day trial basis.
The site’s webmaster suspended operation due to a slow down in crime report postings over the last year and suspicion that only ten percent of the crimes committed in the area are registered by the victims, their neighbors or friends.
The crime report section shows five home break-ins, plus several muggings in the Ajijic-San Antonio area since the first of September. There is some speculation that some crime victims may have decided not to report incidents to avoid causing a negative impact on property values in an already depressed real estate market.
Lakeside Crime Watch is now looking for responsible citizens who are willing to keep tabs on security issues in their neighborhoods. Concerned residents can also help keep the website alive by spreading the word of its importance as a public information service.
Since the local police department and the Ministerio Publico prosecutor’s office do not release crime reports to the press unless queried on specific cases, the Reporter frequently monitors www.lakesidecrime.com as a valuable resource for newsworthy information.
Local News
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Be careful with Debit/Credit Cards
Click here to report fraudulent
use of your debit or credit card
To view the current list of ATMS where the card was last used, and the cardholder later experienced fraud, click here
And please - if you have been a victim - or you are a friend of a victim - please report the crime to Lakeside Crime. It is the only way to keep the community informed.
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Most recent reports
Chapala Kidnapping May 8, 2012
Ajijic Theft of Personal Property May 3, 2012
WalMart San Antonio Theft from Vehicle May 5, 2012
Ajijic Theft (Bicycle) April 18, 2012
SJC Raquet Club Home Inv/Attempted Murd April 6, 2012 updated
HSCB ATM Fraud March 28, 2012
Click here to view the complete list of crimes reported
Hot Topics!
Shopping at Walmart? Here is what one person says: It is getting to be a common occurance at Walmart that a customer will get a fist full of coins for change from a purchase, and the amount is significantly less than what the customer is owed. It is a pain and a pain for everyone in line but the only way to deal with it is to stand patiently and count the money you are given. It happens too often for it to be a mistake, and I have been told of the same thing by many friends. And a another reader commented on May 6, that the cashier gave an extra 100 pesos in change (they gave it back to the cashier).
Use your bicycle around town? Ever park it on the street? If so, do you have a picture of it in case it is stolen? Might be worth a few minutes of your time and expedite recovery in case it is stolen!!!
Keys, Keys, Keys. When you move into a new house, always change your keys. If you give your maid or gardener a key, find one more way to lock the entry so that the maid or gardener can't gain entry when they are not expected. Use a padlock - add a new lock - just eliminate opportunity. Note - there are different types of padlocks. Get the ones that they can't use boltcutters on.
The cut through road just past the airport which goes to the cuota - the bypass to Zapotlano - the short way seems to have high risk. One recent report is an armed robbery of a vehicle going to Laredo - www.chapala.com/webboard
Traffic Stops - Chapala Traffic Police requiring mordida. Hopefully a one time event and not an old habit being reactivated. Click here to read.
Computer Repair - Always get second opinion or you may be ripped off - click here to read
What to do if you have been robbed - click here to read
Looking for Home Security Tips? Here is a good article from a local expert - http://lakesidecrime.com/james/March_2010.php
I need to verify your address for a delivery - only problem is that it is the bad guys asking: click here to read
ATM Fraud is back in the news at Lakeside: click here to read
What if your car was stolen? Are you prepared? Read this interesting blog about one persons experience: click here to read
What is in your car? Hiding a wallet under the seat doesn't always work click here to read: click here to read
What is in your purse or wallet? Check it every day!! click here to read
I am from CFE (or TelMex) - please let me check out your house! Opps - no identification: click here to read
What's a Mustard Bandit? If you don't know, you could find out much too quickly: click here to read
Flat Tire? Of course I can help - after all, I made it go flat: click here to read
Extortion Calls? Real or Not? click here to read
Privacy Policy
Click here - basically it is we keep everything private!
Are you willing to help?
Many crimes go unreported to Lakeside Crime. Some are never reported because the victim does not know we exist.
We need people to change that - and keep their eyes open and ears to the ground. Will you help?
Click here to look at a working document - a list of lakeside areas - where your help is needed.
About LakesideCrime.com
If you don't report it, others will think it never happened!
If you, expat or Mexican, have been a victim of a crime in the Lake Chapala area; or if you are a friend or neighbor of a victim, please let us know what happened so that we can publish the information so that others know what is occurring. This does not take the place of reporting the crime to Mexican Authorities - which we hope you will do.
What if someone tries to break into your house - and destroys your gate or breaks a window - but doesn't succeed. Do you consider that crime? We do. Would you report it to the police? Would the Ministerio Publico allow you to file a Denuncia? The answer in both cases is probably no unless you actually saw the person/s. Would your neighbors or Fracc want to know? The answer is probably yes. They would prefer that you not keep the problem a secret so that they can be more alert.
The police are here to catch people in the act of commiting crimes. At this time, the information they publish is the number of arrests they have made - which is different from the number of crimes reported to them; and they do not categorize by type of crime committed - for example: was the perp arrested because he was drunk or because he killed someone; nor do they care about the nationality of the victim or perp. All that information stays anonymous. The requirement to publish that type of information does not exist at that level.
This website tries to fill the gap - by providing detailed information about what crimes are being committed at Lakeside. Because the website is in English, the audience is expats - but this does not exclude Mexicans from reporting also - a crime at Lakeside is a crime at Lakeside. The one exception is Narco Violence - that is not within our scope and is usually well reported elsewhere.
The only way we can get that information is if you or a knowledgeable neighbor or friend reports the crime - be it an attempted breakin or the theft of personal property from your vehicle. A criminal act is a criminal act.
And who else cares? The Secretaria de Seguridad Pubilcia's office for the State of Jalisco also cares, and they have asked us to start sending copies of reports to them (Your personal information is always keep anonoymous - we remove it before we publish the information on the website - or forward to Public Security). Their goals are to be kept informed and develop a map with crime hot spots and act accordingly. As of December 9, 2011, we will also keep the Chapala Police Department informed of new reports.
So please -take just a few minutes to report a crime if it happened to you or a neighbor or a friend. The community cares and wants to know. And Jalisco Public Security cares and wants to know.
What we do not report is accusations against specific businesses or individuals when the Ministerio has not pronounced a guilty verdict, nor do we include reports where the person could not file a denuncia. Here are two examples: one person reported that a clerk had written down their credit card number and had made fraudulent charges with that credit card. We could only recommend that the person file a denunica with the ministerio to determine guilt. If that person was found guilty by the ministerio, we would add the incident to the website - but not until. Another example was a person that sent us a report about people picnicing on their lawn. We didn't feel that the person could file a report at the ministerio about this - probably not a crime - so we elected not to add the incident to the website. Likewise, if you want to accuse your gardener of breaking in to your house, we will add the break in to the website - but delete references to the gardener until such time was the ministerio finds the gardener guilty. These incidents are not common, but do happen - and both examples are true stories.
We recognize that when you are a victim of a crime, it is traumatic. And we thank you for taking the time to send us a report so that others may be more watchful.
Also, if you would like to contribute information about crime reporting or prevention - please contact us at info@lakesidecrime.com .