Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Mountain Brook Police Department vehicles stationed at the Mountain Brook Police Department in Crestline Village.
Home burglaries in Mountain Brook were the lowest in more than a decade in 2023, according to Jaye Loggins, chief of police for Mountain Brook Police Department.
The year saw 15 burglaries of residences, down from 36 in 2022.
“I’m really proud of that one,” Loggins said.
The stats from 2023 also showed other positives, Loggins said, like fewer car break-ins, fewer accidents and barely any robberies. However, it also showed a rise in theft, which includes scams and fraud.
“We only had three robberies last year, and two of those were cell phones taken by force during domestics,” Loggins said.
“Fortunately, we just don’t have violent crime where weapons are used,” he said, noting that he thinks that’s due in part to MBPD’s proactivity in patrolling and being visible in the community.
In addition to a low number of robberies and home burglaries, car break-ins were down to 67 in 2023, from 82 in 2022.
“One of the things we stress, you see this all the time — lock your doors, lock it up, take valuables out of cars, don’t leave anything in plain sight,” he said. “Especially with car break-ins, people can keep from being a victim simply by locking their doors.”
Loggins said the reduction in car break-ins suggests that residents and visitors to Mountain Brook are heeding that advice.
Vehicle accidents were also down by almost 200 from the year before, from 1,150 in 2022 to 962 in 2023, although 2023 did have two fatalities while 2022 had none.
“I think that [the general reduction in accidents] goes back to our proactive enforcement,” Loggins said. “Our traffic contacts [traffic stops] were higher. We look to change behavior, and if we can change that behavior to keep you from speeding or running a red light or stop signs, it reduces the number of traffic wrecks.”
Thefts, however, were “up considerably,” he said, from 158 in 2022 to 227 in 2023.
“That category includes fraud, and our residents continue to be harassed by the fraudsters,” Loggins said. “We encourage our residents not to open a link that gets sent to you. If it sounds too good to be true, then it is.”
If there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the caller or email author, that should be a red flag, he said.
The theft statistics also include financial crime, such as stealing checks from mailboxes.
“We encourage our residents to use a gel pen instead of a ballpoint pen,” Loggins said, explaining that it makes it more difficult for a thief to “wash” a check and change the names or amounts.
Overall, Mountain Brook has low crime stats year after year, he said.
“We’ve typically been at or near the top across the state every year” in terms of safe places to live, Loggins said. “It’s what the residents have come to know, and it’s the reason they move here or live here.”
He encouraged residents to download the MBPD app, which sends alerts and also offers a way for homeowners to let police know when they will be out of town, so officers can stop by and check on their home.
