Rancho Santa Fe Patrol Chief reports 18 burglaries in Covenant so far in 2014

By Karen Billing

Twice a year, Rancho Santa Fe Patrol Chief Matt Wellhouser gives a crime report for the Covenant, and twice a year, his message is the same: Lock your doors; set your alarms.

At the Aug. 7 Rancho Santa Fe Association board meeting, Wellhouser gave his semi-annual report, charting incidents from January through June 2014. This year there have been 18 burglaries, which is one less than the same period of time in 2013. There were 11 residential burglaries, three commercial burglaries and four vehicle thefts.

“It disturbs me that in over half of the burglaries, the crooks are just walking in the house,” Wellhouser said. “I remind everyone again to lock your doors and turn your alarm systems on … it certainly pays off at the end of the day.”

For the first six months of 2014, the Patrol responded to 2,294 calls for assistance, which reflects a 2 percent decrease from 2013. There were 293 alarm calls, which represents a decrease in 35 calls from the same months last year. Wellhouser said alarms account for about 13 percent of total calls handled. Two alarms were actual burglaries and activated by the subject; 61 were accidental.

The RSF Patrol also conducted 17,274 vacation checks for residents