Weekly Activity Highlights for October 26 - November 1, 2014

http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/docs/weekly_10.26.14.pdf

Weekly Tip - Home Burglary Prevention

Residential burglary prevention continues to be a focus of the Arcadia Police Department. Increased patrol presence, Investigators working surveillance, follow-up on leads/tips, and recovered stolen property, are all pieces to a much larger puzzle when it comes to preventing residential burglaries and property crime. One of the most important pieces to this puzzle is the resident. It is very important to discourage the would be thief and make their job as difficult, time consuming, and as noisy as possible.

Here are a few quick tips to help keep your home safe:

•Close and lock your windows and doors! Thieves look for an easy target.

•Lock your garage door. Thefts from garages are common and it offers ready access to pry tools.

•Keep bushes and shrubs trimmed so that windows and doors are visible.

•Maintain your home and make it looked lived in. Arrange for care if you leave on vacation.

•Don't leave newspapers, mail and door hanger materials in place. Arrange for a trusted friend or neighbor to collect these items for you.

•Know your neighbors! Be familiar with cars, faces and who belongs in your neighborhood.

•Leave different lights on when you leave. Use timers when gone overnight.

•How about a radio with a talk show station tuned in when you are gone?

•Use window stops/pins to prevent windows and sliding doors from being opened.

•Maintain lists of account numbers, valuable item serial numbers and important phone numbers. Duplicate the list and maintain a copy elsewhere. Video or photo your belongings. This aids in property recovery as well as insurance replacement.

•Get an ALARM. Even simple alarms that are not connected to a central system are a deterrent.

•Ask and look for helpful tips. Your local police agency will usually offer home inspections and there are plenty of websites that offer prevention tips and ideas.

•Watch for and REPORT suspicious persons and activity. Most arrests that are made for burglary are not from a report by an alarm company, but rather from a local resident. If you see someone that does not belong in your neighborhood or on a neighbor's property, call the police.

If you return home and believe your home has been burglarized, do not enter the home. Call the police and wait out front. Tell the Dispatcher of your observations and that you have not searched your home. Chances are that the burglar is gone, but you don't want to confront them if avoidable. Entering the home may also destroy certain types of evidence that Officers will be looking for.

Here are a couple of links to sites with prevention tips and information; Crime Doctor and the Burglary Prevention Council. You can also contact the APD Community Outreach Office at (626) 821-2648 for prevention tips and information on Neighborhood Watch.

Three Arrested for Residential Burglary in Arcadia

Arcadia Police Officers arrested three male adults yesterday morning for suspicion of Residential Burglary.  Moments after hearing a knock at the front door, a resident in the 11oo block of Altura Terrace heard a rear sliding glass door being opened. The resident walked into the bedroom and confronted a male standing inside the open sliding door.  The suspect fled out the door without saying anything and, without taking any property.  The resident saw the suspect run to a “tan” car and flee the area. This occurred at about 8:48 am, Monday, November 3, 2014. The crime was reported to APD but no suspects were located.

Later in the morning on Monday, November 3, 2014, at about 11:45 am, a patrol officer came across a tan Lexus at Encanto Drive and Golden West Avenue.  The tan Lexus had expired tabs and was not registered locally.  The officer conducted a traffic stop and contacted two males in the vehicle.  A third male was seen running away from the area of the traffic stop and he was detained at Hugo Reid Primary School by assisting officers.  During the investigation, officers learned of an attempted Residential Burglary having occurred nearby, just minutes prior to the traffic stop.

Based on witness accounts and evidence found inside the vehicle, officers arrested all three males who were later booked at the Arcadia City Jail on suspicion of Residential Burglary with a bail of $100,000.00 each.  Arrested was Erren W. Kelly, 19 years old from Rialto, Creig D.R. Leagons, 21 years old from Pasadena, and Deandre L. Huston, 20 years old from Pasadena.

This is a good example of community and officers working together to help prevent crime. Remember, if you “See Something, Say Something” in order to better assist your police department.

Anyone with information on this crime is encouraged to contact the Arcadia Police Department at (626) 574-5150. If you prefer to provide information ANONYMOUSLY, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the tip page at Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers. 

Offices Dedicated in Memory of Two APD Family

Plaques were recently added to the entry way of two offices here at the Arcadia Police Department. The plaques are dedicated to the memory of two past APD employees who after losing their battles with cancer, were taken too early from us.

Mike Daleo was our first, and long-time Crime Analyst who passed away in 2010. Mike was also a Reserve Police Officer for over three decades with APD (pictured left).  Mike's plaque hangs in front of the Crime Analysis Unit.

Luz "Lucy" Martinez was known for her smile and friendly nature she brought to APD as a Records Technician for almost fourteen years.  Lucy passed away earlier in 2014, also succumbing to cancer (pictured below). Lucy's plaque hangs at the entry of our Records Section.

Both Mike and Lucy are greatly missed and will always be remembered as part of the APD family. 

VOTE Today!

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 is the day for the General Election.  Polls open at 7 am and close at 8 pm.  Visit theLos Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk website for additional information on the elections.

Forgot your polling place?  Not a problem...click HERE to locate your LA County polling location. 

Arcadia Police Department Receives Grant for Special Traffic Enforcement and Crash Prevention

The Arcadia Police Department has been awarded a $130,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program of special enforcement and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic related deaths and injuries. The Arcadia Police Department will use the funding as part of the city’s ongoing commitment to keep our roadways safe and improve the quality of life through both enforcement and education.

The Arcadia Police Department benefits from this grant by enhancing the department’s current traffic philosophy that embraces educating our community regarding traffic safety and enforcing hazardous traffic violations that place the city’s residents and visitors at risk.  As with last year, the grant will provide advanced, specialized training for Arcadia Police Department personnel and will create even more opportunities for our officers to be visible throughout the community.   We have every reason to believe the combined efforts of the Office of Traffic Safety and the Arcadia Police Department will have an impact in reducing the number of people injured or killed in traffic collisions.

After falling dramatically between 2006 and 2010, the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions saw slight increases in 2011 and 2012.  Particularly worrisome are recent increases in pedestrian and motorcycle fatalities and the dangers of distracting technologies. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk and drugged driving and speeding.

“California’s roadways are still among the safest in the nation,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft.  “But to meet future mobility, safety, and sustainability objectives, we must create safer roadways for all users.  The Arcadia Police Department will be using these and other resources to reach the vision we all share – Toward zero deaths, every 1 counts.”

Activities that the grant will fund include:

• Educational presentations
• DUI checkpoints
• DUI saturation patrols
• Motorcycle safety enforcement
• Distracted driving enforcement
• Seat belt and child safety seat enforcement
• Speed, red light, and stop sign enforcement
• Warrant service operations targeting multiple DUI offenders
• Compilation of DUI “Hot Sheets,” identifying worst-of-the-worst DUI offenders
• Specialized DUI and drugged driving training such as Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE)
• Court “sting” operations to cite individuals driving from DUI court after ignoring their license suspension or revocation
• Stakeout operations to observe the “worst-of-the-worst” repeat DUI offender probationers with suspended or revoked driver licenses

Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Robert T. Guthrie

Chief of Police

By: Captain Paul Foley

Operations Division Commander

Time for a Change - Clocks Fall Back Tonight!

Set your clocks back one hour tonight before you go to bed.  Officially, the time change is at 2:00 a.m., Sunday, November 2, 2013.  Gain an hour of sleep and wake refreshed!