Lakesidecrime.com back in business, please support them

lakeside crime: thats only 15% of the crime. the rest is not reported. some people are too scared. they think the criminals will go on line then retaliate. (the "construction crew"???). i could not do a few reports as i promised i would not write in. most people donot know about the site, as its not promoted. there are no postings anywhere. many older people dont go on the internet. maybe they can have someone help them if they saw a flyer. and last but not least, most new people (& others) DONT want to know. they dont want to discuss crime. even on this site most are in denial, i doute that many are in real estate. just in reality. @one time here violent crime was unheard of or very rare. there were break-ins, & purse snatch & pickpockets. home invasions, muggings, never happend.

I do put out posters for lakesidecrime.com - every week at Superlake, El Torito, Walmart, LCS. I plan to have it translated into Spanish as well and post that. Lakesidecrime.com - if you look at the website - never reveals any names, and the person reporting does not need to give exact details of the location. Yes, I know a lot of people are afraid to report. But the recent reports about pick pockets at Walmart and Soriana help people who do read the website be more vigilant. This is the only crime information you will receive about the Lake Chapala area, the local police do not produce crime reports or statistics.

The website and reporting are done by a group at their own cost and their work is done without compensation. I volunteer my own time and materials to produce posters. It would be nice if there were funds for more professional reporting but I don't know of anyone willing to do that.

And I know some people are into denial about crime but others want information so they can protect themselves as much as possible. And many on the chat groups are thankful for the little bit of information they can find on this website - I am one of them.

simpsca, as always, I am impressed with your post. Thanks for the info on the lakesidecrime.com site. I agree with you that some people are in denial about the crime going on. Some of my friends who have lived lakeside for many years refuse to discuss it. If I bring it up, they glaze over and change the subject. They don't want to think about it. I want to know as much as possible, so that I can protect myself. I appreciate the reports people put on the lakesidecrime.com site and on the web board. It helps me to know what to avoid - like not using the ATM at Farmacia Guadalajara anymore. People that share information help all of us to become wiser. I am new to the area, don't live lakeside fulltime, and am in learning mode. I need all the help I can get to learn about living lakeside.

There was a further problem to Banamex ATMs - my gardener told me last week that he used his ATM card at Banamex and somehow 2,000 pesos - his entire account was taken out of the account. He was explaining because he had to change days he worked to go to the bank and try and straighten it out - don't know if it got resolved.

I told a US retired friend of mine who has an account with Banames USA and uses their ATMs here. He will no longer be using them and my gardener will no longer be using their bank. But spotting trends like this can only be done through a central crime reporting website. And I am thankful the people at lakesidecrime decided to continue volunteering their time and effore.