A Successful National Night Out
I would like to take a moment to thank all of the volunteers (Explorers from the Perris and Canyon Lake/Menifee Posts, Sun City Crime Watch, Harvest Valley Citizens Patrol, Perris Citizens Patrol, and our very own Posse members), staff from the Perris Station, and the many represented specialized units from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (Aviation’s helicopter team, Dive Team, Special Enforcement Bureau – SWAT, Bomb Squad, and K-9 unit) for taking the time to make this year’s National Night Out event a stellar activity for the community to enjoy. I would also like to recognize Cal-Fire for their presence as well. A special thank you is necessary for Miller-Jones Mortuary, Harvest Valley Citizens Patrol, and Target for their generous donations, which helped provide free hot dogs and refreshments to those who attended the event. Each demonstrated their commitment to connecting to the community in a big way. I am truly grateful for their partnership.
This was our third year for putting on an event of this magnitude. It was very nice to see the cooperation of all those involved, the presence of our local City Council members and County Board of Supervisors, and the community’s equal participation (more than 1,000 people from our communities attended this year) to come together for a common good – getting to know one another and create an environment of support, trust and partnership to prevent and reduce crime.
I saw a lot of people enjoying the balloon animals, face painting, cotton candy and popcorn, as well as the K-9 demonstrations and the dunk a cop dunk tank. If I’m not mistaken, Sergeant Tim Elwell and Deputy “Officer Larry” Holloway looked like they enjoyed the interaction they had with the kids taking turns dropping them into the water. Good times!
A Brief Update on the Crime Control Model
For those of you who have followed my past articles, you know that the Perris Station employs a very distinct crime prevention model of policing (about two and a half years now). In the past, I have shared some of the unique characteristics of this model, and what we believe to be some of its successes (i.e., overall Part 1 crime decrease). One of the tenets of the model is persistence and relentless follow-through. Since beginning this form of policing, we have “stepped up our game” so to speak when it comes to paying attention to not only when and where crime occurs, but also the persons who are most likely to be involved in the criminal activity.
Recently, I took that time to review some of the stats from our station’s Special Enforcement Team (SET). As you may remember, these officers are directly responsible for coordinating our crime prevention efforts for each of the policing zones, which comprise our patrol areas. Although I have yet to analyze the data in depth, I found that from 2007 to 2009, this team of officers more than doubled the number of probation and parole searches made for the respective years (321 in 2007, and 678 in 2009). Thus far this year, they have conducted more that 434 of these searches. I would venture to guess that there is a definite correlation between the number of compliance checks (i.e., searches and contacts) and our continued decrease in Part 1 crimes being committed. This definitely deserves a little more attention and analysis to confirm my suspicion. I will be sure to share more on this as I dig a little deeper into the data.
Be safe!
James P. McElvain
Chief of Police