After the tornado, Arkansans are now dealing with thieves

Little Rock, Arkansas – Following many reports of break-ins, Little Rock police said this week that they will be stepping up patrols in the Walnut Valley neighborhood.

Following the destruction caused by an EF-3 tornado in March of last year, the neighborhood’s residents are now hoping that more may be done to safeguard their houses.

Jenny Bishop had only moved in a few months prior to the hurricane, yet she made the decision to concentrate on reconstruction over the past year.

“Every time I would go over the hill on Shackleford, I just kind of felt anxious,” Bishop said. “Hard to take in every time… all the damage.”

However, Bishop’s much-anticipated comeback hasn’t gone as planned because, in the past week alone, she has witnessed attempts to get into her home through both her back door and one of her cars—which was, admittedly, left unlocked.

“The police has told us that it’s typically more the construction sites that they tend to do that too because they don’t think anyone’s home,” Bishop said. “They took my purse, backpack, and work cell phone out of my car, and within one minute they were gone.”

Even with clearly visible security cameras and bright lights, all of this is taking place.

“We have 16 cameras on the porch here,” Bishop said.

Bishop also claimed that one of the painters working on her house was the subject of a third break-in.

“[Our cameras] saw our painter coming around this corner here at the same time as they were actually breaking into his vehicle out there,” Bishop said. “Just a few feet away.”

Not only Bishop, though; the entire community is now calling for additional action and increased police presence.

“We just have to hope that our neighbors are keeping an eye out,” Bishop said. “That the police will continue patrolling.”

Upon her return to Walnut Valley, she wants to apprehend suspects before to the moving trucks’ arrival, having waited over a year.

“We just want our neighborhood back,” Bishop said. “We just want to want it to be safe, and we want our kids to feel like we’re okay as well.”

Call (501) 371-4829 to report any suspicious behavior or break-ins to the Little Rock Police Department.