Category Archives: Board Report
2011 Year in Review
2011 Year in Review
A long time ago here in San Tan Heights we had many major issues with crime. The biggest problem at first was the long response times from the PCSO to respond to ANY calls. This left the door wide open as the word got out.
Believe it or not one of our bigger issues that we were initially aware of was illegal dumping; especially up at the Thompson Parcel. This particular parcel in San Tan Heights was pretty much cut off from the rest of the community due to the fact that the developer pulled out with only about five homes built leaving much vacant land and not enough eyes to watch out.
Well the fine families in this neighborhood had had enough. Bill Evans brought the issue of illegal dumping to the fore in our monthly HOA meetings. This prompted several residents in San Tan Heights to band together and do a clean up of the area. We had solidified a relationship with new neighbors and they were empowered to make sure that they didn’t have to go through this again. They called in any suspicious vehicles and the chase was on.
That was 2008. Total illegal dumping for all of San Tan Heights in 2011 were three (and this is at the bottom of the Call Data below). This is quite a big improvement. An improvement that could not have happened if neighbors didn’t work with neighbors.
Fast forward to 2011, if you please.
Times are different, but not the solutions. Taking care of crime in our neighborhoods still takes a united effort. If you see a situation in your neighborhood, get your neighbors on board. The more eyes on it the better and the more calls to the PCSO means that the flag[s] are raised. Congratulations. Welcome to San Tan Heights Community Watch!
We’ve had a few meetings this month with law enforcement and our Property Management team and we think San Tan Heights is in a unique position. Our line of communication with the PCSO is better than ever with [the new] Lieutenant Cashman, our ongoing relationship with Sergeant Wallace and the head of our Posse for Adam Region Lt. Doug Ewen.
We’ve established weaknesses; communication between PCSO, Posse and COPs is non-existent and has been our biggest bone of contention for a very long time. Our view is that three agencies patrolling the same night is not nearly as beneficial as one agency per night which is better coverage throughout the week. Lt. Cashman is set to address this and we should soon start seeing a more coordinated patrol system between the three organizations.
You should all give a lot of credit to our Property Management team as well for working very closely with the PCSO and the Posse. John Torres has taken a pro-active stance on crime here in San Tan Heights and is keeping us posted to new graffiti and vandalism as he becomes aware of it. Again, the more eyes the better and we will forward anything from the office on to you just for that purpose.
But what REALLY makes this all work is how many calls YOU are making to the PCSO to report suspicious activity. Just look at the data below and you’ll see that calls to report suspicious activity/persons/vehicles are really up there. One of the biggest compliments I think we’ve ever heard (and this was from a Deputy quoting a Lieutenant) was that “They don’t take any crap”. I would say the data pretty much confirms this.
What is new for 2012? Not much, really…
As stated in an earlier post, we’ve been looking for ways to get information out as soon as possible when needed; honestly I can not think of quicker methods than Facebook and Twitter. We’ve linked all accounts through Hootsuite and when something gets posted it gets posted to Facebook and Twitter at the same time. The website is connected to Twitter so when a new post goes up, Twitter picks it up and reposts the link.
Not saying the website is going away but the website is meant for bigger articles… like this one. Facebook and Twitter as platforms are more spontaneous. For that reason we encourage you to follow San Tan Heights Community Watch on Twitter and/or Facebook for real time community and safety info. Any updates coming from PCSO, Posse, COPs or our Property Management team will be funneled through these services in most cases.
If you see something, say something. That’s how it works. Tell the PCSO, your neighbors, the Property Manager and tell us. What better way to get the word out than to tell people!
Search For San Tan Heights Community Watch on Facebook
2011 Call Data
Last year was the first year of keeping track of crime stats in San Tan Heights. Below are the stats for 631 calls with an average of 12.1 calls per week As you can see the calls for suspicious activity/persons/vehicles are up as much as the calls for theft, burglary and criminal damage.
Without those suspicious activity calls, theft, burglary and criminal damage calls would have been increased significantly. Thanks for not taking any crap!
| THEFT | 74 |
| SUSP. ACTIVITY | 61 |
| SUSP. PERSON | 60 |
| BURGLARY | 50 |
| CRIMINAL DAMAGE | 45 |
| JUVIE PROBLEM | 40 |
| SUSP. VEHICLE | 36 |
| FRUAD | 34 |
| NOISE | 32 |
| QUADS / ATVS | 22 |
| HARASSMENT | 20 |
| THREATENING | 19 |
| FIREWORKS | 17 |
| ANIMAL CONTROL | 16 |
| ASSAULT | 15 |
| DRUGS | 13 |
| SHOOTING A WEAPON | 13 |
| FIGHTING | 11 |
| FIRE | 11 |
| RACING | 11 |
| RUNAWAY | 10 |
| RECKLESS DRIVING | 9 |
| MISSING PERSON | 5 |
| CHILD ABUSE / NEGLECT | 4 |
| POLLUTING | 3 |
Related articles
- Social Media Used For Curbing/Stopping Crime. (sthcw.com)
- Get the PDF of this article here.
- January 2012 HOA Board Report
San Tan Heights Community Watch 