Los Altos crime prevention program revitalized

By Megan Ma, Town Crier Staff Writer

Neigborhood Watch block captain Les Spring stands outside his Los Altos home. With the recent wave of burglaries in Los Altos, police have made efforts to reinvigorate the 15-year-old Neighborhood Watch program.

They have become a common sight: street signs emblazoned with a murky stranger in an overcoat. Others have a large watchful eye set against a blue background.

Who runs the Neighborhood Watch program that claims to be in progress? Maybe the sign is just a façade for the police department to ward off crimes on the streets they don’t have the manpower to patrol. Think again, said Police Chief Bob Lacey.

“Five years ago I would have said it was a dormant, worthless operation that had fallen by the wayside. In the past few months, it’s become a very exciting effort,” he said.

Today the police department is pushing to regenerate a 15-year-old program to make the community safer with the help of some dedicated and vigilant residents.

New direction

The assignment for Officer Paco Vergara, newly appointed crime prevention unit officer, includes setting a new direction for the program, sponsored by the police department and re-established two months ago.

Before Vergara took over, the program consisted of little more than the police department handing out Neighborhood Watch stickers to affix to house windows and erecting street signs. Residents were left to their own devices. But those passive days are over, Vergara said.

The goal now is to get more residents involved in protecting their own neighborhoods and ultimately to make Los Altos a more vigilant place.

“This is a safe community in general, but there are still crimes of opportunity that occur. Our hope is to bring those numbers down,” Sgt. Paul Epley said.

“We are making it more proactive and getting the information out to people so they can help us resolve crime issues,” Vergara said.

There are six block captains already, but the police department hopes to have at least 10 more in each Los Altos district by December.

A block captain serves as the point person for the neighbors, who, in turn, serve as extra eyes and ears for the police department. Vergara, who monitors crime trends, will identify crimes that occur in specific neighborhoods and e-mail the captains of the affected areas. In addition, he may distribute photos of suspects or crime prevention tips.

In turn, block captains are responsible for spreading the word using their neighborhood list. They serve as liaisons between the police and the public - distributing the crime updates concerning anything from petty theft to vandalism to the recent mountain lion found in a Heritage Court resident’s swimming pool.

“This is what we need - protecting our community is our No. 1 goal,” Vergara said.

Engaging people to watch out for their own neighborhoods makes the police department’s jobs easier and more effective, Lacey said.

A block captain’s story

Sheela Sukhdeo became a block captain shortly after an unfortunate circumstance about five weeks ago. Most days, Sukhdeo is at home on Azalea Way, at the end of a quiet, shaded cul-de-sac. Between stay-at-home moms and retired couples, the neighborhood on the surface seems pleasantly uneventful and sedate.

“The neighborhood itself is very quiet and gives you a comfortable feeling, so you don’t feel like you need to be extra cautious,” she said.

Recently, Sukhdeo’s car was broken into while parked on her street. Two briefcases were stolen - containing cash, her husband’s medical prescription pads and MP3 players. Devastated over their loss, the Sukhdeo family reported the theft, believing theirs was an isolated incident. Four days later, a police officer informed the couple that a neighbor on a nearby street had found the Sukhdeo’s briefcases inside a duffel bag, discovered under shrubbery in the side yard. Apparently, the same residents had experienced a theft from their unlocked car just two months before. The officer reported that three nearby residents also fell victim to car thefts within the past few months.

Shocked and relieved, Sukhdeo walked door to door through her neighborhood and reminded her neighbors to keep their homes and cars locked.

Soon after, Vergara, who was tracking crimes in the neighborhood, asked Sukhdeo if she would be interested in taking a leadership role. Sukhdeo agreed to host her neighbors in her home for Vergara’s crime prevention orientation. The meeting peaked everyone’s interest and they agreed to start an e-mail distribution list, Sukhdeo said.

“I didn’t feel unsafe before, but I definitely like to know people are more on guard now,” she said.

Regular updates

Longtime Los Altos resident Les Spring has served as a block captain for 11 years. Years ago, when Community Service Officer Noreen Sorg approached him, residents rarely received crime updates. Today he receives up-to-date information frequently and enjoys keeping in touch with neighbors through e-mail.

Although the aim of the program is to deter crime, it also fosters the “good neighbor” attitude and the kind of friendly and warm neighborhood residents of Los Altos are proud to call home.

“We all know each other here. Most of us here are retired, but we’re not nosy neighbors,” Spring said. “We just watch out for each other and take care of each other,” he said.

Building community and preventing crime often go hand in hand, Vergara said. When neighbors are vigilant and pay a little attention to visitors and the traffic going through the street, they are more likely to report suspicious activity. The program also pairs neighbors with each other so one can retrieve mail while the other is on vacation.

“It’s about getting to know your neighbors, as well. The likelihood of your calling the police if something is wrong if you don’t know them is very low,” Epley said.

Block captains now serve as active crime stoppers, circulating updates from the police department on crimes in their area.

While the infrastructure for the program is in place, police want to recruit more neighborhood block captains.

“The goal is to bring the crime rate down, at least a bit. Hopefully, instead of having only five officers on patrol, we’ll have more citizens to help us out,” Vergara said.

For more information or to sign up, call Officer Paco Vergara in the Crime Prevention Unit at 947-2776.