My name is Henry Harry. Thank you for coming. I am the Chairman of your crime prevention committee.
Like many of our neighbors, I work in law enforcement. Over and over I have told citizens who were having problems in their neighborhoods to form a Neighborhood Association, including area businesses, and hire an Off-Duty Deputy to patrol the area. Many of these areas lacked the community spirit to save themselves. That is not true here.
I am proud to be a part of this community. Last fall, we came together in this very room. We yelled and vented a lot of anger about problems with crime and the delivery of law enforcement services. We saw our neighborhood slipping further into the grips of crime and help seemed out of reach. After the yelling and screaming, we took action. We formed a Neighborhood Association and got a local business to pay for an Off-Duty Deputy to patrol the area around the Circle K store. For a time things got better.
As part of a larger community called the Central Division, in 2003 we had 18 of the 36 homicides which occurred in the county. Crime is out of control in our community, but we have stuck together. The VCNA board members have stuck together to make our streets safer, for your kids and my kids.
We built a website where you can monitor and file complaints about code enforcement problems and crime problems. You can also learn about community resources and your association’s activities. I invite more of you to check out our web site at WWW.VCNA.INFO.
I want to turn now and talk about the Off-Duty Deputy program. We don’t have to stand by while our neighborhood turns into “South Central”-- a place where kids can’t ride a bike to the store without getting beat-up, threatened or robbed. When I joined this association, my biggest goal was to start an Off-Duty Deputy program. I believe it is the fastest way to save our community from crime.
Let me tell you about the program. We will have an officer with full police powers and a patrol car. The officer will patrol our neighborhood. Those members who pay into the program will be provided the officer’s pager or cellular telephone number.
It is my experience that within about two weeks, the officers will become familiar with about half of the problem homes, adults and punks.
I strongly believe we should take advantage of this program like other communities have. The Camden neighborhood has had the program for several years and Gold River has the program. The best example of this program I can think of is the Parkway Estates Neighborhood Association.
Located near Franklin Boulevard and Florin Road, the Parkway neighborhood is directly across the street from one of the worst crime areas in the City of Sacramento -- this is the notorious “G” Park Way, now renamed Phoenix Park. Without the Off-Duty Deputy program, the Parkway neighborhood would have a tremendous crime problem. Their crime, however, is relatively low given their closeness to G Parkway. I know their low crime is because of the Off-Duty Deputy program.
We have a lot of crime and it is past time to do something about it. Tonight is our opportunity to fight the crooks and give a mandate to these officials to take back our neighborhood.
We want our neighborhood back! Don’t just complain about the problem! Join our Association! Support the Off-Duty Deputy program and help take back our neighborhood!
In a minute I am going to turn this over to Mr. Frank DeSart who is here from the Parkway Neighborhood Association.
Before I step down, I want to thank all of the VCNA board members who have stuck through this process. I believe our association president, Julie Giestlinger, made the comment which best describes our efforts. Last year she said she was she was doing this, not so much for herself, but because she loved her neighbors.
So would you please help me give a loud round of applause to our board members and our president, Julie Giestlinger.
Thank You