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It's a normal day of business for Lang's Pharmacy in Weston. Customers roam in, grab their orders and chat with pharmacist Mike Vogt about the weather. Even the recent burglary of the Westport CVS doesn't seem to bother residents or the pharmacy's staff.
"I don't think [the burglars will] come up here," one woman said as she hurried out the door. "But it wouldn't surprise me if they did."
Vogt lives in Westport and has worked at Lang's for the past three years. "It's something we're aware of," Vogt said of burglaries. The recent robbery "is a great reason to believe we might be robbed. ...We take the proper precautions."
Several cameras at Lang's would help identify any person who attempted to rob the store.
Zoe Valella is a senior at Weston High School and works at the counter part time. "I don't really worry about it," she said, smiling. "We live pretty far from everything."
The Westport burglary involved a knife-wielding man who stole handfuls of Fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic 100 times more powerful than morphine, and Duragesic, a patch-release form of Fentanyl. The exact number of pills and the street value were unknown.
Although Weston is a world apart from Westport, the towns are neighbors. This week, two people were arrested on burglary charges after police received a tip of a suspicious person in Weston.
Many blame the bad economy as the culprit in the recent spike in crime. Even the federal government acknowledges that assumption. In 2008, the Office of Management and Budget said, "Supporting the hiring of police nationwide will help states and communities prevent the growth of crime during the economic downturn."
Half of the police agencies surveyed by the Police Executive Research Forum reported a surge in crimes that can be attributed to the economic crisis. It revealed that 40 percent of these police offices reported an increase in robberies and vehicle thefts, while more than 30 percent noted a rise in burglaries.
That doesn't stop Lang's Pharmacy. Longtime owners Ben and Diana Levison will continue to provide for Weston residents, even if local burglaries continue to rise.
What do you think about the rising crime? Is it getting worse? Tell us your thoughts in the comment box below.
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