This email article is intended to reinforce information shared with the community in the past about crime prevention.

The board works very closely with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and their crime prevention unit. They have also made a number of visits to homes within our community to review home security measures and to participate in Neighborhood Watch organizational meetings. They are also providing daily patrols throughout the community with their Volunteer Patrol car.

There are however, limits to what the homeowners association can do. Law enforcement and the HOA cannot overcome crime without the support of homeowners individually and as a community. The homeowner association is responsible to prevent and address crime in the common areas. The individual homeowners are responsible to secure their own homes and property.

Analysis of crimes in our community reveal that the vast majority of them are “crimes of opportunity” and preventable.

The following are some tips and hints to optimize the security of your own homes and property:

• Always lock your doors and windows even when leaving for “just a few minutes.”
• Never leave a house key available: under a doormat, in a flower pot, or on the ledge of the door. These are the first places a burglar will look.
• Lock your cars that are left in the driveway even for a short period of time and ensure that all valuables in the car are out of sight.
• Exterior doors should have dead bolt locks with a one-inch strong metal bar extending into the door frame. Sliding doors and windows should all have ventilation locks as well as auxiliary locks to bolster security.
• Ensure to use good locks for garage, patio or other doors that lead out through a storage area or a spare room.
• When you leave for vacation use timers so that lights, radio and/or TV go on and off throughout the house to indicate someone is home. Let your neighbors know in advance of any travels so that they can assist with monitoring  your house.
• For longer trips, be sure and stop mail and newspaper delivery or have a neighbor collect them daily. In short, make your house look “lived in.”
• Install motion sensitive cameras with wide angle lens viewers in the front door and consider doing the same in areas of the house that may be easier to enter without being seen. Never open the door without knowing who is there.
• Most of the homes in the community have sophisticated alarm systems yet few people actually activate them. Use these alarm systems at night and when you leave the home. It only takes a few seconds of time to turn the systems on. Post a sign in your front yard indicating that your home has an alarm system. Even if you don’t have an alarm system consider buying a sign that indicates you have one. Consider adding additional motion sensors to all floors in your house and incorporate into your alarm system.
• Homes that adjoin trails, open spaces and the golf course should strongly consider installing motion sensitive cameras and lights in their back yards. These properties afford easier ingress and egress for criminals.
• Be vigilant about people walking around the neighborhood who may not appear to belong in the community. Report any suspicious activity to the Sheriff’s Department non-emergency phone number 760-966-3597.

Any homeowner can request a personal security analysis of their home by the Sheriff’s Department Crime Prevention Unit. For arrange for a visit, please call 760-966-3587 or 760-966-3588.

In addition, there is a wealth of information on the Sheriff’s Department web site: www.sdsheriff.net/

You will see direct links to a variety of tools and databases that might be of interest to you on the Sheriff’s web site including access to crime reports through www.crimemapping.com. Other tools available include ‘Who’s in Jail’, ‘Arrest Warrant Lookup’ and ‘Sex Offenders E-mail alerts’. We encourage homeowners to sign up for the monthly newsletter that the Sheriff’s Department published. You can enroll for it on their website.

Attached is an article from the City of San Diego Police Department that offers up some excellent insights on criminal behavior. City of San Diego Crime Notice

The HOA would welcome the opportunity to host another crime prevention seminar. Also, let us know if you and your neighbors are interested in establishing a formal Neighborhood Watch. Please contact Pat Campbell with Keystone Pacific at [email protected] or at 760-643-2200 if you are interested in either.