Important message from Chief Coleman McDonough

As a relative newcomer to Mt. Lebanon (I’ve only been the Chief of Police here for five years), perhaps I’m just not yet familiar with some of the customs or traditions that have evolved here over time. Many Mt. Lebanon residents pride themselves on their welcoming attitude toward strangers, and go out of their way to welcome new people to their neighborhoods. Based on recent events, I can only assume that as an extension of that spirit of hospitality, some of our residents are apparently NOT alarmed when they run into strangers inside their own homes. Were our residents suitably alarmed, one might assume they would CALL THE POLICE when they encounter intruders in their homes.

Recently we’ve had at least two occasions when Mt. Lebanon residents have discovered strangers inside their homes. In both cases, the residents waited literally hours to call 911 to report the intruders.   Another resident discovered a strange man attempting to turn the knob on the front door; she too failed to call the police for several hours. Two of these three incidents occurred on the same day and in the same neighborhood as another successful burglary.

The Mt. Lebanon Police can help deter crime here, but without citizens taking common sense steps to assist us, our mission is much more difficult.  Compare the failure of our burglary/trespass victims to call 911 to a recent robbery victim’s actions; by immediately dialing 911, the robbery victim ensured we were able to quickly respond and take two suspects into custody within minutes.

If you believe a crime may be occurring, or if you simply think something is suspicious, please don’t hesitate toCALL 911 IMMEDIATELY. If it turns out to be just a “misunderstanding”, we’ll sort that out when we get there. Better to apologize to someone who mistakenly enters your home than to allow a burglar to walk away and return to your neighborhood to prey on you and your neighbors.

If you suspect something isn’t right, here’s the short version:

-          Wait for your wife or husband to come home?         NOPE

-          Call Aunt Myrtle for advice?                                          NOPE

-          Email your Mt. Lebanon Commissioner?                   NOPE

-          Call the maintenance man at your church?               NOPE

-          Post a query on Facebook?                                             NOPE