Residents and the police are thankful that murders are scarce in Northborough, but no community remains untouched by crime. And not all the bad guys have been caught.
Thirteen people are listed on the massmostwanted website of those who have allegedly committed crimes in Northborough. Four of those listed have been recently captured, two have been identified and seven are still at large.
Det. Sgt. Brian Griffin said the Northborough Police Department has used massmostwanted, successfully, in the past and will continue to use it.
"I can't recall the last time we have uploaded a picture to the website," said Griffin. "When we do post, we want to be certain we are posting the picture of the right person. Also, we are only going to post it if we have a fairly clear image from surveillance video. There are other more secure websites that detectives use to disseminate pictures, surveillance video and to discuss cases. Typically one would need some sort of law enforcement privilege to have access to these sites."
The public, however, can view massmostwanted, and is often the police's eyes and ears that bring the suspect under arrest.
Presently, the cases involve either theft or robbert.
One, which occurred on Jan. 17 of 2010, involved a man breaking and entering into a car while the victim attended an 11 a.m. mass at St. Bernadette's church. The suspect smashed the passenger window with a rock and took numerous valuables.
In the summer of 2009, two men entered Honey Farms, jumped the counter and held the clerk at knife-point, fleeing on foot with cash. One of the suspects is also wanted for a theft at Helen's Variety Store later that month.
Several years ago, Griffin investigated a case of armed assault that occurred on Hudson Street.
"At the time, this gained media attention and placed many neighborhoods on edge," said Griffin.
Working countless leads, solidly for many months, Griffin was never able to catch the suspect.
"The difficulty in this case was it was in a dark location that the suspect was seen leaving," said Griffin, "and witnesses didn't have a good visual of the suspect's face. There was no known vehicle involved, no evidence collected, the suspect was unknown to the victim and there was no surveillance video. These are some things that would aid us in many investigations."
A case that has no investigative leads, no suspects and "little or nothing to pursue" is classified as "open" or "suspended" after 90 days. But if new information surfaces, it can be reopened, even after several years.
"In a case like the one on Hudson Street," said Griffin, "if for some reason I get a new tip or a possible suspect, you can be sure I will be following up on it. You'd be surprised as to the information I sometiems receive from cases that happened several years ago."
This past April, during a house break on Thayer Street, the victim had numerous electronic and jewelry stolen from the home. A month later, Griffin was speaking with a detective from another local department, who had just arrrested three individuals for breaking and entering in his town.
After describing the items that were stolen from the Thayer Street break, the town's detective said he had some of those items in front of him.
"It was great," said Griffin. "We jumped in our cars, drove to this town, executed search warrants and charged three individuals with this break. We actually think they were responsible for more local breaks, but they would not confess."
Networking with other local detectives, Griffin said, is essential. Monthly, the Northborough police hosts a meeting with other detectives to compare notes and leads. Oftentimes, he said, cases can be resolved because of information gathered at that meeting.
There are success stories, and Griffin said it's satisfying to be able to call the victims with some news, an arrest, or a return of belongings.
"As a detective, you really get to know your victims and you want to do everything in your power to help them," he said. "There is nothing better than calling a victim on the phone and saying, 'Guess what? We found your belongings' or 'We have the suspect arrested.'"