At 5:00 pm, Friday, April 8, 2005, about 35 residents of Hammock Beach Estates and the surrounding area attended a briefing by four members of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Department:  Sheriff Fleming, Detectives Koenig and Jolicoeur, and Officer Mike Lutz,  plus Arnie Levine, a civilian liaison for neighborhood watch programs.[1]  Here’s a summary of what was discussed:  


[1]  The meeting had been rescheduled due to the rain-out on Thursday.  Although a notice had been posted at the pool and we had made some phone calls to spread the word, I apologize that some of you were not aware of the new meeting time.  We will improve our communication with your help.

  1. The two brothers who are believed to be solely responsible for up to 13 home burglaries in the last month are both in custody and awaiting trial.  The younger brother had been arrested about a week ago because he was in possession of property stolen from the houses that were robbed--he has a $20,000 bond.  The detectives captured he older brother Thursday night (April 7) as he waited to board a Greyhound Bus in St. Augustine.  The detectives said he has confessed to nine burglaries and they believe that the evidence once analyzed will link him to the others—he was not allowed bail.   The detectives are convinced that all of the recent burglaries in our neighborhood were performed by these two young men.  The boys should be off the street for some time because this was not their first offenses.   Once all of the recovered property has been catalogued for evidence, the detectives will contact the affected homeowners so that they can recover their property.
  2. Officer Lutz provided statistics for 2004 on “Calls for Service” for HBE and the surrounding area bordered by A1A, the Ocean, Melacomrpa Road on the Sourh, and on the North by the unpaved roads connecting to Armand Beach Drive and by North Mahoe Drive in HBE.   The statistics listed 38 categories of calls, of which 20 had data (one of the categories with no incidents was breaking and entering.) .  As shown, on the next page, there were 67 calls in these 20 categories, of which 14 occurred in 6 categories in HBE.  The Message:  The recent burglaries were a glaring exception to what otherwise is a pretty safe and secure community.
  3. The County has given the police department authority to set up a substation in the former fire station on Melacompra road, as soon as Motor Vehicles moves out.  Sheriff Fleming anticipates that the substation should be operational in about 2 months.  He said that the Sheriff will be looking to staff the substation with civilian employees and volunteers.  When operational, the station should provide a better law enforcement presence for our area.  Currently, at any one time, a single deputy covers the area from the north end of Flagler Beach to Marineland.  The sheriff said that overall he is understaffed by about 60 officers, based on a standard of 2.4 officers per 1000 residents. 
  4. The officials encouraged us to reactivate our Neighborhood Watch Program within HBE and for the surrounding areas to establish their own programs.  A Neighborhood Watch Program is not envisioned as organized citizen patrols as in some communities.  Rather it has a couple of simple elements:

      5. ·        Residents being deliberately attentive for suspicious or unusual activity as they walk, drive, or ride their bikes through the community.

      ·        Reporting any suspicious activity to the Sheriff’s Office by typically calling the non-emergency phone number  (386 437-4116) and identifying yourself as HBE Neighborhood Watch member as you report what you observed.

      ·        Establishing block captains to coordinate communication among residents on each block and with coordinators for other blocks.

      ·        Making arrangements with your immediate neighbors to watch your house when you are away.  (Tips for working with your neighbors to protect your home and self-protection tips can be found at http://www.myfcso.com/fcso/crimetips.asp

       

    1. The officials noted that the communication network provided by the Neighborhood Watch Program is also very useful in times of local emergency such as hurricanes or brush fires. 

      2.  

      Table:  Flagler County Sheriff Calls for Service in Armand Beach Area

      INCIDENT TYPE

      NUMBER IN AREA

      NUMBER IN HBE

      911 Hang Ups

      4

      0

      Animal Complaints

      2

      2

      Burglar Alarm

      3

      2 (both false alarms)

      Checking Out

      1

      0

      Civil Complaint

      3

      0

      Disturbance

      3

      0

      Fire

      1

      0

      Fraud

      2

      0

      Larceny

      1

      0

      Motor Vehicle

      3

      2

      Miscellaneous Complaint

      8

      1

      Missing Person

      1

      0

      Noise Complaint

      4

      0

      Notifications

      1

      0

      Police Function—Serve Papers

      16

      0

      Property lost-found

      2

      0

      Suspicious Person/vehicle

      5

      2

      Traffic stop

      1

      0

      Trespass

      1

      0

      Vandalism

      5

      5

      Totals:

      67

      14

      During and at the end of the meeting, the residents expressed their appreciation to the Sheriff’s Department officials for solving our immediate crime problem and for taking the time to brief the community.  

      Steps We Can Take: 

      The HBEHOA Board is the logical entity to serve as the initial coordinating body to revitalize our neighborhood watch program.  We will discuss planned actions formally at our next Board meeting on May 5.  In the meantime, I will   

      I would encourage all of our residents to: 

      If you have any comments or suggestions, don’t hesitate to send an email to  (paulzacharias@yahoo.com), give me a call at 445-8507, stop by to 29 Cottonwood Trail, or stop me to chat when you see me around.  If we communicate, we can strike the right balance of being attentive and watchful without making ourselves crazy with fear and worry. 

       

                                                                  Paul Zacharias
                                                                  President, HBEHOA
                                                                  April 9, 2005