The Atherton Police Department will hold a community safety meeting on Zoom next Tuesday, June 29, at 6 p.m. to discuss a recent spike of burglaries in town, ways to prevent burglaries, information about Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in town and general police operations, according to a town news bulletin.

Police Chief Steve Chief McCulley sent a letter to residents on June 15 addressing the Atherton Police Department's crime prevention efforts and goals of strengthening the department's partnership with residents.

"But, none of these ideas will help unless they are used properly," the bulletin states. "Failing to lock doors and windows or to turn on security lighting and alarms will represent a failure of the overall protection system for the home. We hope that together, we can enhance the quality of life in Atherton and make our great community as safe and secure as possible."

In early June, police put out a news bulletin about the uptick of burglaries in town.

The last reported residential burglaries took place in unoccupied detached structures overnight on Thursday, June 24, on the unit blocks of Placitas Avenue and Middlefield Road.

A bicycle (valued at $10,000) was taken from a detached unlocked garage in the unit block of Middlefield. Between 5:45 p.m. And 5:55 a.m., someone ransacked an unoccupied pool house on the unit block of Placitas.

Someone took items from unlocked cars during the weekend of June 19 on Lloyden Drive. Before that, there were two residential burglaries reported on June 11: one took place on Melanie Lane and the other on Greenoaks Drive. Two also occurred between June 7 and 8 on Stockbridge Avenue and on Selby Lane.

The letter to residents includes burglary trend statistics across the country.

Atherton police advise that one of the best strategies to prevent a burglary is to make your house look like someone is home when you are away from your home.

Meeting details can be found here.