Open House

The fall and the spring are the worst months here for thefts at construction sites. That is not surprising: In the summer, when more houses than not are occupied, a thief can never be certain of being unobserved, and in the wintertime less building takes place.

Last month and this one have, unfortunately, more than kept pace with the dreary statistics. There are more new houses going up these days than there have been since the late '80s, and hardly a week goes by without a report that someone's brand-new air-conditioning units (or stove, or Jacuzzi), often still in the boxes they came in, have been stolen. Expensive materials are another favorite target: lumber, copper wiring, Andersen windows.

Sometimes the building contractor is the victim, losing the kind of supplies that cannot easily be taken home at night - heavy drills, power tools, air compressors, and the like.

Can good citizens do anything for their soon-to-be-neighbors in the way of damage control? Sure. They can keep an eye out for strangers who seem to be doing nothing but hanging around, and they can report suspicious activity to the police.