I recently read some disturbing comments on NextDoor
regarding management’s lack of concern for our safety so I contacted Lisa
Harold and asked for her input.
Obviously, she IS concerned about security as she and her family are
also residents at Palm Creek.
She has indeed been busy contacting our local police
department for their help, input, and support.
She has quite a few “irons in the fire” to address our safety issues and
will be distributing a letter to our mailboxes within the next couple days
outlining the items. It takes time to
properly draft the letter, get it proofread, print 2000 copies, and get them
distributed into our mailboxes so please be patient.
Hopefully seeing the increased presence of patrol cars
cruising through our streets at night can verify that action has been
taken. We all need to heed Officer Engstrom’s advice
about keeping our doors and valuables locked at night and when we leave home. Let’s be vigilant.
Lisa was kind enough to release a DRAFT of the letter that
will be distributed.
February 23, 2016
Dear Residents,
It is important to recognize that when something happens to
one of us, it happens to all of us. We
are a family here at Palm Creek, and both as a resident and as the General
Manager, I take break-ins and property crimes in the resort very
seriously. The purpose of the meeting
with the Police Dept. on Monday was to start the process of building a
relationship with our local law enforcement and to remind our residents and
guests that we are our best line of defense against property crime in the
resort. Being mindful of locking sheds
and homes, not leaving keys in golf carts, and properly securing bicycles and
other valuables is an important step in not making us an “easy target”.
I would like to share some of the things that I have been
working on for the last few weeks. It
was my intention to speak on this during the crime prevention meeting but it
ended more abruptly than I expected. It
is important for you to know that while residents and guests need to do their
part, management also has a critical role to play.
-My staff and I have been putting together a “thank you”
package for the Police Dept. and Fire Dept. and we have also introduced an
annual Police Dept. fundraiser. This season
it will be a Nine and Dine in March. We
appreciate our local Police and we want them to know it!
-Jim Dawson, Officer Engstrom and I will be conducting a
full survey of the resort. From there,
I’ll be able to develop a comprehensive plan where I can look at meaningful
integration of signage, lighting, and monitoring that were discussed yesterday
and address any shortcomings that we find.
-I will be hosting a focus group in the Ballroom on Wed.,
March 9th from 3-5 pm to review specific crime prevention topics
including Neighborhood Watch. Please
email me any questions or discussion items you would like discussed during that
meeting and I will incorporate them into my agenda. I will invite the Police Dept. to attend to
give input if they are available but I will be the main speaker.
-We have increased evening property drives in the resort by
our night driver and ranger teams. I
have also asked the Police to patrol the interior and exterior of the resort at
least once per night as availability permits.
The Gate staff and Officer Engstrom have confirmed with me that this has
been happening for the last few weeks.
-We have purchased an exit beeper at the Main Gate. This will be turned on from 10 pm to 5 am and
will alert the Gate staff if someone is exiting the resort at odd hours.
-We are very excited to announce that we have partnered with
Sam’s Club to offer a 10% discount to any Palm Creek resident or guest who
purchases a game camera or security camera system from them. They have many affordable options under $200.
Please see the March newsletter for more information.
-The police dept. has recently received some new funding and
programs. During our resort survey, we
will be able to determine if we can take advantage of these programs.
-Next season, we will ask the Police Dept. to have a booth
at some or all of the Craft Fairs to talk about bicycle registration and share
any current programs and information.
This will depend on their availability.
- If someone is involved in a crime, it is critical that a
report be filed so that the Police Dept. is aware if there are any trends and
can provide us support. Any time an
incident happens, the Gate immediately calls the Police, but we cannot file an
actual police report if it was not resort owned property that was stolen or
damaged.
-The police dept. is in need of unwanted bicycles and broken
laptops for their bait theft program. I
have asked for a list of any other items they might need. If you are interested in offering a donation
to them, please contact the Activities Office for more details.
I want to thank those of you who took the time to attend the
crime prevention meeting yesterday. For residents
and guests who were not able to attend, we will have information from the
meeting included in the March newsletter.
You can also stop by the Activities Office and pick up copies of the
materials.
If you have any comments or feedback, please email me at lharold@suncommunities.com. Thank you for joining me in a productive and
healthy conversation about such an important topic to all of us. I look
forward to continuing to build partnerships for the success of our resort.
Regards,
Lisa Harold, General Manager
Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort
