Buying or Selling a Home in South Berkeley: South Berkeley Quality of Life

I attended a neighborhood meeting last Thursday at the corner of Alcatraz and Sacramento.  Unfortunately I had to leave, due to a family emergency, before the meeting was over.  I was able to listen to the Beat Officer from BPD talk about some burgalries in the neighborhood.   Apparently since the beginning of the year there have been 7 or 8 break ins, usually through an open or pried open window.  the perpetrators apparently go to the front door and ring the bell.  If someone answers they ask for a ficticious person.  If no one answers they break in. the advice was to report activity in the neighborhood that was not normal, to take precautions such as keeping things out of the yard that a burgular could use to climb into a window, as well as keeping windows and doors locked. alarm systems are useful as are cameras and loud dogs!  This activity is an unfortunate burp in what has been a steady decline in neighborhood crime and may be attributed more to the economy than to a decline in the South Berkeley quality of life, which from my point of view has been steadily improving since I bought my home in 2001 and will only be getting better.