Thursday, February 4, 2010

Some Info on the Laurelhurst Private Security Project

Cary Pillo, Crime Prevention Coordinator, with the Laurelhurst Community Club, sent us some interesting info on the current Laurelhurst Security Project.

Starting last month, the boundaries were expanded to cover the entire neighborhood area south of Sand Point Way from Mary Gates Way to NE 55th Street. In addition, the plan is to expand coverage to 6 nights a week, depending on the number of subscribers.

Here is a letter describing the project and a map of covered areas.

Cary tells us the patrol was started in 2008 and modeled after Windermere's program.

"When it first started, the patrols only worked three nights a week and covered mainly Webster Point and the Laurelhurst neighborhood in that area.

In 2009, the patrol area expanded to include Laurelhurst south of the park and the Town of Yesler neighborhood (the homes located between Surber near the Center for Urban Horticulture and Sandpoint). Now we have expanded to cover all of Laurelhurst and plan on having patrols work 5 or 6 days a week for 5 to 6 hour shifts.

The officers are off-duty Seattle Police. They are in uniform, armed, and patrol using their own unmarked vehicles equipped with radios to monitor 911 calls.

They patrol throughout the neighborhood during their shifts. Generally they work in the late evenings or early morning hours but some day time patrols will be scheduled.

When you sign up, you can request a property check of your home while you are away. The officers keep logs and so far, most of the activity has been to discourage late-night teen loitering and cruising, checking property while subscribers are away, closing open car and garage doors and securing packages.

It is difficult to assess if property crime has decreased since our patrol has started. Property and nuisance crime occurs in waves and we have not had the patrol long enough to get a solid amount of data. Also, many people do not file police reports or always contact LCC regarding crimes.

We encourage everyone to file a police report when a property or nuisance crime occurs since we do get monthly crime reports from SPD.

Generally the patrols do not enter the park because of legal issues, however, they do patrol the perimeter and will call 911 if they see any illegal activity within the park. Some of the neighbors living near the park have observed decreased nuisance activities. We believe that this may be the result of increased awareness of the security patrols.

ALWAYS CALL 911 FIRST in any situation that may require a police or emergency response. The patrols do not replace 911 - they are an additional layer of crime prevention for the neighborhood.

You may sign up for the patrol any time during the year here.

The cost is $200 for the 2010 calendar year. When you subscribe you can request a property check while you are away by emailing crimeprevention@laurelhurstcc.com

You will receive monthly email updates through Constant Contact. You can also email us at the crime prevention address with questions, patrol related issues or to report a crime after you have filed a police report.

You may also mail a check for $200 payable to the Laurelhurst Community Club, PMB #373, 4616 25th AVE NE, Seattle 98105. If you mail in your payment, please include a note with your name, address, email, and emergency phone number."

Thanks Cary and the Crime Prevention Team for this great information and efforts in keeping our neighborhood safe.

No comments: