Joint San Diego County Sheriff s Department San Diego Police Department Public Safety Meeting May 31, 2016

Transcription

1 Joint San Diego County Sheriff s Department San Diego Police Department Public Safety Meeting May 31, 2016 prepared by Ira Sharp with Mayor Sherryl Parks A meeting of Del Mar and Del Mar Heights residents to discuss public safety issues in the City of Del Mar ( the City ) and the Del Mar Heights ( the Heights ) was held at the Del Mar TV Studio on May 31, 2016; more than 100 residents met with San Diego County Sheriff s Deputies ( Sheriff ), who provide public safety services in the City, and officers of the City of San Diego Police Department ( SDPD ), which provides public safety services in the Heights and other nearby areas. 1. Which Police Department Should I Call? a. Check the Street Signs: In most cases, if your street sign has a blue or white background, you are in the jurisdiction of the SDPD; if your street sign is green you should call the Sheriff. i. Sheriff s Department Captain John Maryon: john.maryon@sdsheriff.org 2. Lieutenant Mark Moreno: mark.moreno@sdsheriff.org 3. Detective Sergeant Rich Eaton: rich.eaton@sdsheriff.org 4. Crime Prevention Specialist Gary Rivers: gary.rivers@sdsheriff.org ii. San Diego Police Department Northwestern Division- Station: ; SDPD Dispatch: Captain Stephanie Rose: srose@pd.sandiego.gov 2. Lieutenant Mark Saunders: mrsaunders@pd.sandiego.gov 3. Detective Sergeant J. Sterling: jsterling@pd.sandiego.gov 4. Community Relations Officer Trevor Philips: ttphilips@pd.sandiego.gov b. Dial 911: Unless your call relates to old news such as an incident that occurred yesterday or hours ago, dial 911. Your call will automatically be routed to the correct department. Dialing 911 from your cell phone will also connect you to the correct department. c. Enforcement Along Our Border: Sheriff s Deputies and SDPD Officers cooperate with each other. They will not stop at the border between the City and the Heights if they are pursuing a suspect or if they see something. 2. Most Crimes in the City and the Heights are Crimes of Opportunity? a. Criminals are Risk Averse: They are desperate for items which they can steal and sell quickly; they want to avoid conflict and difficult situations. They generally do not want to expend any more time or effort than it takes to try a door on a house or car to see if it is unlocked, open a window not visible from the street, or enter an open garage door that allows them access to the house while being out of sight to passers-by. No lights on in a house or no answer to a knock on the front door, and they think this will be easy pickins. b. Most crimes are thefts: Car break-ins are the most frequent. Carfishing occurs in all neighborhoods, particularly in the beach area, where purses, wallets and keys are left in sight or frequent hiding places and attract criminals. c. Quick steps to deter crime: i. Lock the doors and windows on your house, your garage and your car. Lock any gates. ii. Do not leave your garage door opener in your car parked in your driveway. iii. Remove your address from the car registration form in the car glove box if you leave your garage door opener when away from home.

2 2 iv. When you see something suspicious, call 911 because your new information often adds to other information to reveal a previously undetected crime pattern in your neighborhood. v. If you see an unfamiliar car repeatedly cruising your neighborhood, the Sheriff encourages you to call 911 with the best description of the car you are able to provide, including the license plate number when possible. vi. If someone knocks at your door, do not give it the silent treatment; do not open the door if you do not know the person, but make noise, generate the sound of people being home, turn on lights, talk through the door or an intercom to determine who is there and if it is a salesperson, someone claiming to have knocked on the wrong door, etc., call the Sheriff with the best description of the person possible. vii. Install an alarm on your doors and windows, and use it. Technology now allows you to turn on lights both inside and out when an event occurs, such as someone moving in a private area outside. Cameras with motion detectors are available for your front door and throughout your property; they will record and save the video during the day or at night, and can send a real time signal to your smart phone, allowing you to appear to be home regardless of where you are. Many residents reported satisfactory results using a door bell with an embedded video camera purchased from Ring.com for approximately $200 with an option for video storage for $3 per month. There are other products that provide similar services. viii. Consider getting a dog. The Sheriff s Deputies and the SDPD Officers agreed that in their experience very few homes where a dog is present are burglarized. ix. Plan now to enable you to get your possessions back if they are stolen: where possible, engrave an identifying number such as your social security number or your name on it. Record and store serial numbers from electronics, such as TV monitors and computers. Take pictures of jewelry and other valuables. Consider purchasing a safe for storing your valuables; detectives suggested a floor mounted safe weighing 300 or more pounds. x. Telephone Scams: Do not fall victim to telephone scams targeting affluent neighborhoods. The IRS, the Sheriff, the Department of Motor Vehicles and other public agencies will never call you and demand that you make an immediate credit card or debit card payment or wire money to avoid being arrested or fined. If you get such a call, hang up and call the Sheriff.

3 3 3. Facts about the Policing System a. When a crime or suspicious activity is reported (a Call For Service or CFS ), an Officer or Deputy will respond and conduct an investigation at the scene to make a determination if a crime has occurred. If a crime was committed, the Officer or Deputy will complete a crime report at the scene and assign a crime case number which is given to the victim. The case will be forwarded to an investigating detective to determine how the case will be handled from that point. Many CFS s do not result in an opened case. b. If a residence is burglarized, whether it is locked or unlocked, occupied or vacant, the suspect once apprehended will be charged with a felony. If a vehicle is locked and the suspect forces entry into the vehicle, that is also initially charged as a felony. Entering an unlocked vehicle and stealing property valued at less than $900 will be charged as a misdemeanor. c. These numbers are only for Del Mar; they do not include the Heights. The year to date for 2015 is in parentheses. Through April 30, 2016, there had been 3 violent crimes (1in 2015), consisting of no homicides, 1rape (1in 2015), two aggravated assaults (0 in 2015). There had been 33 property crimes (50 in 2015), consisting of 14 burglaries (8 in 2015), 15 thefts (39 in 2015) and 4 auto thefts (3 in 2015). There were 5 adult felony arrests (5 in 2015) and 60 adult misdemeanor arrests (48 in 2015) in that period. There had also been 5 people struck by trains, one person killed in an auto collision and 30 injured, and 96 DUI arrests. d. Response Times. This portion of the report pertains only to Del Mar. Year to date (April 30, 2016) there had been 3 Priority 1 calls with an average response time of 5.7 minutes. Priority 1 refers to a serious accident, a blood run or a disaster. Year to date there had been 63 Priority 2 calls with an average response time of 10.7 minutes; a Priority 2 includes homicide, rape, armed robbery, residential burglary, grand theft, violent psycho, assault with a deadly weapon. Year to date there had been 68 Priority 3 calls with an average response time of 15.1 minutes. These are calls in which there is no immediate danger to life or property; the most common is responding to a residential burglary after it has occurred. Year to date there had been 41 Priority 4 calls with an average response time of 39.6 minutes. A Priority 4 call includes loud parties, prowler, vandalism, burglary where an alarm is activated, disturbance, such as an argument or a family or group disturbance. 4. Neighborhood Safety Programs a. When to notify the police? Call 911 anytime you see someone or something suspicious in your neighborhood and then call your neighbors to alert them. Report every crime; if you think a theft of your property is too small to file a complaint, you are putting your neighbors in jeopardy because the perpetrator will put out the word that stealing in your neighborhood is easy.

4 4 b. When to organize your neighbors? Now! Many residents had stories of how they successfully stopped crime waves on their blocks by getting to know their neighbors, exchanging telephone numbers and addresses, and reacting quickly to unknown cars and people in the neighborhood who had no apparent reason to be there. c. Available Resources The Sheriff s Department offers Crime Prevention Specialists (Gary Rivers: gary.rivers@sdsheriff.org, The SDPD offers a Community Relations Department: Officer Trevor Philips: ttphilips@pd.sandiego.gov, They will help you individually and in groups. Make an appointment by phone or , and they will come to your home to assess your vulnerabilities to crime and make suggestions of improvements you can make. Make an appointment by phone or , and they will address your neighborhood group on how to organize a Neighborhood Watch program and keep it active and effective. d. How can I learn if crimes are happening in my area? i. The Sheriff s Department provides a report of all its activity to the community on a monthly basis. The information must be sanitized before it is published in order to protect the privacy of those involved; this removes names and addresses, reporting only a general area. A reduced report is released by the City and often appears in the Del Mar Times. It was not clear if similar information is available for the Heights. ii. There are several websites which provide more detailed information more quickly. See: Crime Mapping and Spot Crime. iii. Use the crime & safety tab in the NextDoor app. If you see suspicious activity or crime, post it, and check to learn if others in your neighborhood have viewed suspicious activity or crime. 5. Allocation of resources: a. The City of Del Mar consists of 2.5 square miles. At any given time, there will be one deputy sheriff on the beat. During the week, typically during business hours, there will be a motorcycle unit and on weekends there will be a traffic patrol. There frequently is a Senior Volunteer patrol (You do not need to be a Senior to join this patrol). Recently the Sheriff created a South- IMPACT team to be more responsive to the needs of the community. This is a shared resource with the city of Solana Beach. b. The SDPD patrolling the Heights and surrounding communities are part of the Northwestern Division, which covers approximately 45 square miles. The area is regarded by San Diego officials as safe when compared to other areas. Although more officers are being allocated to the SDPD, they will not be assigned to the Heights. In fact, as summer comes. officers are shifted away from the Heights to areas in the Southeast part of the Division where gang activity and violent crime are much greater problems.

5 5 c. The Fairgrounds in Del Mar are state owned and operated but served by the San Diego County Sheriff s Department. Many crimes in North County occur on the fairgrounds. Special procedures occur when an event draws more than 1000 patrons such as KAABOO. Additional officers are called by the Fair and are paid by the Fair for this additional coverage. Crimes committed outside the Fairgrounds by persons drawn to the City by events at the Fairgrounds are included in the crime statistics for Del Mar; this inflates the reported statistics which are often computed on a per capita resident basis, not per capita resident and visitor basis. IHS