Friday, October 12th, 2007
Keeping your Neighborhood Safe
Many of you have contacted my office regarding neighborhood safety issues. Our residents should feel safe in their neighborhoods and community. The San José Police Department (SJPD) is taking a proactive measure to reduce crime in the City of San José. Even with the difficult cuts to our City budget, the City Council made the decision to add 15 police officers to the department.
Officers are continuing to check for suspicious activity in your neighborhood, but they cannot be everywhere at once. The SJPD depends on you, the residents, to do their part and alert them to suspicious activity. Having a Neighborhood Watch could actually prevent crimes from occurring. Therefore, I invite all of you to participate in the Neighborhood Watch program and hear your local police officers discuss home security, suspicious activity, personal safety, and problems specific to your own neighborhood.
To start a Neighborhood Watch program in your neighborhood or to schedule a follow-up meeting, please call (408)277-4133 or visit http://www.sjpd.org/crimeprev/. Periodic meetings of your Neighborhood Watch Group should be used to develop programs in order to heighten citizen awareness of and learn about proper response to suspected or actual criminal activity.
If you see any suspicious activity in your neighborhood, call the police immediately. Remember to be specific and document every incident. Note the time of day, the exact location, the clothes, appearance, and characteristics of the suspect. Even if they do not respond immediately to the concern, your call makes a difference in building a case to increase police presence in the area.
On September 17, 2007, SJPD and CrimeReports.com announced their partnership to provide easy to read crime maps and automated alerts to the citizens of San José. This useful website provides a free service to members of the public, allow citizens to receive alerts automatically via email when a crime occurs near their home, and provides data in near-real time. By participating in CrimeReports.com, the SJPD is demonstrating commitment to service and safety by making crime information available to the citizens of San José.
We must continue to work together to make our neighborhoods safe, by forming partnerships to reduce crime opportunities. We cannot do this job without the support from the community.
Kansen
