Daytime burglaries spike in Milwaukee neighborhood near 35th & Thurston

MILWAUKEE -- Broad daylight burglaries. Over the past month, a neighborhood on Milwaukee's northwest side has been hit the hardest.

FOX6 News crunched the numbers throughout the city, Milwaukee Police District 4 is not the worst when it comes to crime and burglary rates, but over the past week, there's been a concentration of daytime burglaries in one small area.

"It was a good neighborhood," said Cedric Watkins, lives nearby.

Cedric Watkins

Residents are on alert.

"It used to be pretty nice and slowly and surely you see a lot of stuff like break-ins; our car windows have been smashed in," said Watkins.

Milwaukee police say in the last 30 days, thieves have been targeting homes withing a half-mile radius of 35th and Thurston. In just one week, five residential burglaries have been reported in the neighborhood.

"Ended up getting two German Shepherds and now they're big and hopefully they let us know when someone comes down even close to our house. They'll start barking," said Watkins.

According to Milwaukee police data, so far this year, District 4 has the second highest number of burglaries in the city with 121. District 7, on the city's north side, has had the most burglaries this year: 171. Compare that to Milwaukee's south side where there have been just 67 burglaries.

When asked how police are responding to the problem, MPD officials say:

In the meantime, some residents are taking matters into their own hands.

"Got an alarm system and the two dogs," said Watkins.

Closing the door on crime in their neighborhood.

So far, police say no arrests have been made.