Crime Watch and Safety Committee Minutes

Date of Meeting: March 18, 2002

Purpose of Meeting: Advice from Officer Eisenberg

In Attendance: Leo Mott, Norm Sereboff, Bob Finkelstein, Bob Yudin

Not In Attendance: Otto Breda, Leonard Utz, Tom Munroe

Guest: Robin Eisenberg, Dallas Police Department

  • Norm Sereboff toured the property with Officer Eisenberg prior to the meeting so that she could orient herself to the development and provide suggestions. The following are her suggestions and input:
  • Gates provide for limited access but the property is not a secured area. Norm related a recent experience of confronting a teenager with what turned out to be a pellet gun near the North lake in the estate area. Officer Eisenberg suggested that we should be pro-active and place no trespassing signs in strategic areas. This might be helpful in the event of a trespasser becoming injured on the property. She also recommended a no entry sign at the Hillcrest exit gate. She also indicated that the drive at the Hillcrest exit only gate was two cars wide. The drive could be modified with planters, boulders and/or concrete curbing with grass fill behind to inhibit entry from Hillcrest. Bob Yudin suggested a homeowner, such as himself, be authorized to lock the gate when broken while open and Development people not available.
  • Although it was not dark during her tour she stated that the best deterrent to crime is lighting. She suggested residents turn on front home entry, back yard and alley lights. Same for side yard lights. Timer or motion sensors recommended.
  • Pool area requires a telephone. This can be an outgoing only pay phone, which can be used at no charge for a 911 call. Outgoing only feature to prevent kids receiving calls.
  • The question had arisen at prior meeting as to whom to call when you observe something suspicious such as trespassers, loud parties, etc. Officer Eisenberg was emphatic that the observer calls 911 directly. Calling the gate or local precinct station creates delays and will be ultimately sent to 911 anyway where calls are logged. For minor infractions they may not be on the scene quickly.
  • Although she knew of no alley robberies inside a gated community she did say burglars are becoming more sophisticated and that gated communities are becoming more likely targets. She said, as an example, a stolen Lexus could probably gain access quite easily. She recommended the safest way of exiting your vehicle is to close garage door and then getting out.
  • Officer Eisenberg will E-mail Norm re crime stats in our police Sector. This is broken down by Beats. Will decide later as to what to do with this information as far as disseminating it to the residents.
  • The Dallas police have no authority to regulate traffic in private areas such as Lake Forest. We must request our residents to be thoughtful and caring of their neighbors. She thought a discrete small sign indicating traffic flow at the island by the entrance lake would be helpful.
  • NO NAME STREET SHOULD BE HIGHEST PRIORITY according to Officer Eisenberg. She observed the speeding traffic at 4:30 PM and a truck failing to yield to her in her police car when trying to drive from the Park exit to the Pool entrance. Although she had no authority she did hit the siren and caused the speeder to slow down. She was emphatic that this is a dangerous situation. She did volunteer that a 4-way stop sign may increase pedestrian and driver safety although this could cause unbearable backup at start and quit times at Compucon. She also emphasized that since the street is private property and unnamed and not in her computer it may cause delays in summoning police or fire department.

Norm brought up the neighborhood patrol course, Volunteers In Patrol (VIP) that Officer Eisenberg conducts on Saturdays. This is in the event we wanted residents to patrol the development on a scheduled basis. This is a seven hour course and tour of the communications center in downtown PD headquarters. It will show members of the VIP what to look for and how to respond.

The question was asked, “how do you buzz people in from the no-name street entrance?” While some knew how to call from there, no one knew how to respond. Directions should be included in newsletter and/or on the website.

When to auto dialer from the gate rings your house phone and visitor announces himself, press “9” to open gate.

Meeting adjourned

After thought:

Since everyone agrees that the crossing on No-name Street is dangerous, especially at start and quit times of the day, perhaps we should suggest to walkers to avoid that area during those times. This would be a quick fix to a potentially dangerous situation.

Leo Mott