Community Awareness

1
WELCOME

• Community Awareness
• Crime Prevention
• in Greenwood Village

2
Todays Situation

• There were 16 residential burglaries which
  occurred in the area from South Colorado
  Boulevard west to South Clarkson Street between
  January 2005 and January 2006.

3
Todays Situation

• Ten of these crimes were garage burglaries.
• In each case the suspects did not enter the
  interior of the homes.
• The burglaries occurred on South Clarkson Street,
  Cottonwood Lane and South University Blvd.

4
Situation

• The burglaries occurred in the mid-summer of
  2005.
• Most happened in the late evening or over night.
• The garage doors to the residences were left open
  at dusk and into the night.

5
Situation

• Some cars that were entered had been left
  unlocked in the garages.
• Wallets and purses were stolen which lead to
  incidents of identity theft.

6
Situation

• Five burglaries occurred in the area of Green
  Oaks, Cherry Crest, East Orchard Road and South
  University Boulevard East of South University
  Boulevard.

7
Situation

• Four of these involved forced entry through the
  front door of the home.
• All homes were unoccupied at the time the crimes
  occurred.
• Three (3) happened from mid- morning to
  mid-afternoon.
• Two homes had no alarms systems and the ones that
  did were either not turned on or not working.

8
Situation

• There was one burglary that occurred in mid-day
  on South Colorado Boulevard and a prowler call in
  the same area in middle of the night.
• Both occurred in July of 2005.
• No other activity has been reported in this area
  since these two events.

9
Statistics

• FBI Uniform Crime Reporting 2003.
• The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program's
  annual publication, Crime in the United States,
  2003, compiles crime statistics from more than
  17,000 city, county, state, tribal, and federal
  law enforcement agencies. Here is a summary of
  the burglary statistics for 2003

10
Statistics

• The Nation had an estimated 2,153,464 burglaries
  in 2003, a slight (0.1 percent) increase from
  the 2002 estimated figure. The rate of burglary
  in the United States was 740.5 burglary offenses
  per 100,000 inhabitants, a 0.9-percent decrease
  from 2002 data.

11
Statistics

• Victims collectively lost an estimated 3.5
  billion as a result of burglaries in 2003 with an
  average dollar loss of 1,626 per incident.

12
Statistics

• An examination of the burglary data indicated
  that forcible entry accounted for 62.4 percent,
  unlawful entry comprised 31.2 percent, and
  attempted forcible entry made up 6.3 percent of
  all burglary offenses.

13
Statistics

• Most burglaries (65.8 percent) occurred at
  residences most residential burglaries (62.0
  percent) occurred during the daytime.

14
Statistics

• Most persons who commit burglaries are adult
  males

15
Statistics

• The typical burglar is a male, equally likely to
  be white, black, or Latino under the age of 25,
  under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the
  time of offense, comes from a lower or working
  class background, and has an extensive criminal
  history. 
• Burglary Prevention Council

16
Our Response to this problem

• Begin a SARA Project
• SARA is an acronym for
• SCANNING
• Define the issue at hand
• ANALYSIS
• of the affected area and compile data
• RESPONSE
• define a plan of action for this issue
• ASSESSMENT of the response

17
Burglaries January 2005 to January 2006
18
Greenwood Village Burglaries District One
Colorado Boulevard west to the Village
boundaryJanuary 2005 to January 2006
19
Response

• Increase police patrols / bicycle units.
• Proactive Patrols 2005 to 2006
• 11839
• Open door reports 838
• Directed surveillance of the affected areas.

20
Response

• Contact and discussions with neighboring law
  enforcement agencies
• Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office
• Cherry Hills Village Police Department
• Littleton Police Department
• Englewood Police Department

21
Response

• The Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office had a number
  of similar forced entry burglaries in the area of
  South University Boulevard East Orchard Road.
• The Cherry Hills Police Department had one
  similar day time forced entry residential
  burglary in the area of South Clarkson Street.

22
Recommendations

• Increase police patrols.
• Utilize the police bicycle unit when the weather
  permits.
• Establish Neighborhood Watch.
• Enable the residents to become
• the eyes and ears of the neighborhood.

23
Recommendations

• Establish a partnership with the neighborhood and
  the police.
• Provide crime prevention information for
  continuing education.
• Assist residents to complete home security
  surveys and identification of valuables.

24
What is Suspicious?

• There are specific indicators a person can learn
  to identify when a situation might arouse some
  suspicion or become threatening to their personal
  safety or to those persons around them.
• A. Motivation
• There is some type of motivation behind any
  specific action whether it is threatening or
  non-threatening. For example, every time someone
  decides to follow another person, break into a
  car or building, assault another person, defend
  themselves or another, argue or steal, they are
  motivated by some need, conflict, want or desire.
• B. Education

• AWARENESS
• 1. Learning to become more aware of our
  environment around us and recognizing when
  something is wrong is very important.
• 2. The following AWARENESS SPRECTRUM is offered
  as an example of one way any person can become
  more aware of what is happening around them no
  matter whether they are at home, on vacation or
  in the workplace.
• By CONDITIONING YOURSELF MENTALLY you will be
  operating at the proper level of awareness for
  the need at hand. Colors or numbers can be used
  to mark the different levels of awareness.

25
What is Suspicious?

• By reducing opportunities for crime by
  increasing your awareness of your surroundings,
  you act as an extra Eyes and Ears for law
  enforcement. Report anything or anyone
  suspicious to the police department. The list
  below is a partial list of things to watch for
• Someone running from a car or home.
• Someone looking in the windows of a home or
  closed business.
• Someone screaming. If you cant determine where
  the person is located or why they are screaming,
  call the police.
• Persons in a car who appear to be arguing or
  physically fighting.
• A person who seems to have no purpose wandering
  in the neighborhood.
• The sound of glass breaking.
• An audible alarm either from a residential area
  or business area.
• An alarm from a car or residential area.
• Any unusual noise that you cant explain.
• Vehicles moving slowly, without lights, or
  cruising the area continuously, business or
  residential area, or BACKED UP TO A HOUSE LOADING
  PROPERTY.

• a. AWARENESS SPECTRUM
• Condition White A state of environmental
  unawareness. Oblivious to whats going on around
  you.
• Condition Yellow Relaxed but alert, cautious
  or your surroundings.
• Condition Orange A state of alarm. You know
  something is wrong and you
• concentrate on evaluating it further and
  resolving it.
• Condition Red What appears wrong is wrong and
  you react instantly.
• By remembering these states of awareness, an
  individual can be prepared to react to any
  situation that arises.
• Information source Caliber Press

26
What is Suspicious?

• Business transactions conducted from a vehicle.
  This could involved the illegal sales of drugs or
  stolen property.
• Property being carried by persons on foot at an
  unusual hour or place. Especially if the person
  is running or walking fast. For example, carrying
  a television or other electronic item in a
  residential area.
• Property being removed from closed businesses or
  residences known to be unoccupied.
• A teenager or adult who appears to be watching
  children at play, at school, or at a daycare
  center.

• A child or adult resisting the advances of an
  adult.
• Ice Cream trucks in neighborhoods ( this is
  against City Ordinance).
• A group of juveniles under a bridge, in a parking
  lot or behind buildings in dimly lit areas.
• Graffiti anywhere on public or private property.
• A child who is alone and appears to be lost.
• A car sitting unoccupied with the engine running.

27
What is Suspicious?

• When you encounter a suspicious incident or
  possible crime in progress,
• IMMEDIATELY CONTACT THE GREENWOOD VILLAGE POLICE
  DEPARTMENT
• by calling
• EMERGENCY 9-1-1
• Non Emergency
  303-741-5960

• Let the police department take care of the
  problem. You are not trained to take action in
  case of a special or serious problem. You are
  needed to be the eyes and ears to assist the
  police department in reporting suspicious
  incidents and or problems as you observe them.

28
Recommendations

• If you suspect a home has been burglarized or
• Any door found open
• Do NOT enter the home.
• Immediately call the police.
• Do Not Touch Anything.
• Wait in your car or a neighbors home.

29
Assessment of the Response

• Is on-going at the present time

30
Conclusion

• Thank You for Your
• Attendance