SAN ANTONIO – Walking around Northern Hills is so peaceful, you can’t tell it’s right by some of San Antonio’s busiest roads.
It’s why Shirley Sturgeon loves living here.
“Very quiet, very nice,” she said. “Because it’s mostly retired people.”
The quiet has kept Calvin Ingram in his home for 40 years.
“The neighborhood is a friendly neighborhood,” Ingram said.
Even then, Northern Hills is not immune from crime.
San Antonio police say property crimes — specifically car break-ins — are the most common crimes affecting the neighborhood.
Ingram said someone rummaged through his cars parked in his driveway earlier this month.
“We forgot to lock the vehicles,” he admitted.
Nothing valuable was taken, except Ingram’s sense of security.
“Well, you feel violated,” he said. “You feel violated. I mean, that’s the only way I can put it, you know?”
SAFFE Officer Gregory Warrington said in the last month, San Antonio police investigated six car break-ins in Northern Hills.
He said that number is likely lower than the actual number of car break-ins in the neighborhood. He encouraged all victims to file reports.
“It just helps us to, again, prosecute and get those individuals off the street,” Warrington said.
“Even if it’s somebody as minor, just shuffling through papers in the car,” KSAT reporter Daniela Ibarra said.
“Yeah,” responded Warrington. “Again, because somebody is going on to your private property and entering into your vehicle, that is a crime. So, make sure to report it.”
Twice a month, David Hadley patrols the neighborhood.
“You just never know what you might stumble across next, you know?” he said.
Hadley is a Citizen On Patrol, part of SAPD’s community crime watch program.
He said the four-hour training gave him tips on what to watch for to keep an eye on his neighbors.
“Well, if we’re running around and we see sometimes we’ll be riding around and there’ll be a window down, well, that’s not too good,” Hadley said. “So you just go knock on the door and tell them.”
It’s a simple but meaningful gesture appreciated by neighbors like Sturgeon.
“The neighbors do look out for each other, which is helpful,” she said.