Saranap Community Association

Saranap Responds to Crime Increase

This article appeared originally in the spring 2010 Saranap Community Newsletter.

Concerned Saranap residents have responded to an increase in crime in the area by posting and distributing flyers, creating an e-mail discussion group, and exploring Neighborhood Watch as a deterrent. Learning that the sheriff’s department no longer supports Neighborhood Watch groups, the SCA’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors program began offering assistance to Saranap residents interested in establishing the groups through a new initiative called Safe Neighborhoods.

Between Jan. 27, when we began tracking crime in the Saranap on www.CrimeReports.com, and March 13, 14 crimes were reported. Five were home burglaries, six were thefts from vehicles, and three were other thefts, such as from open garages. Five of the crimes were clustered in the Kinney–Juanita–El Curtola area. More than half took place during daylight hours. Some occurred when the occupants were at home. The thieves reportedly have taken electronics, jewelry, computers, and other valuables.

The sheriff’s department confirmed that crime in the Saranap increased substantially during the first two months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009 and 2008. According to its data, there was one home burglary in the area between Jan. 1 and Feb. 24 last year and one during the same period the year before. There were two vehicle burglaries during this period last year.

A sheriff’s department spokesman said he was not able to provide specifics about the crimes or the suspects. A deputy responding to an attempted break-in on Juanita told an SCA board member that the department patrols parts of the Saranap four times during each eight-hour shift.

Many neighbors learned of the break-ins from a flyer posted on utility poles in late January. (The flyer referred to the crimes as robberies. In fact, robbery involves violence or the threat of violence. None of the crimes reported has been a robbery.) A second flyer, distributed in one of the neighborhoods where burglaries had occurred, called on residents to be vigilant and to form Neighborhood Watch groups.

A flurry of e-mails among neighbors quickly evolved into a moderated online discussion group whose members exchange information about crimes and suspicious vehicles and people in the Saranap. (The group is no longer accepting new members and asked that we not publish contact information.) Postings to the group revealed widespread interest in Neighborhood Watch. “How do we start a formal Neighborhood Watch program?” one woman inquired. “Does anyone know?”

When the SCA’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors program learned that the sheriff’s department is no longer able to support Neighborhood Watch due to budget cuts, it formed Safe Neighborhoods, a program to help Saranap residents start Neighborhood Watch groups. One NHN volunteer has extensive experience with a community-wide Neighborhood Watch program, and a number of SCA members had expressed an interest in Neighborhood Watch on their membership or interest forms. (NHN itself is not forming the groups but rather is providing assistance to neighbors who want to.)

While NHN coordinators were organizing Safe Neighborhoods, they also created a flyer that included information about the program and burglary-prevention tips. The flyer was e-mailed to 200-plus SCA members, who were asked to make five copies to distribute to their neighbors. Six hundred flyers were printed and distributed by NHN and other SCA volunteers in neighborhoods where we don’t have as many members.

4Click here for burglary-prevention tips and information about the Safe Neighborhoods program. Please make five copies of this flyer to share with your neighbors. If you have neighbors who are elderly or infirm, please offer to go over the flyer with them and offer your help making their homes and property safer.