Crime Prevention Section

Citizens Patrol receives a grant for the purchase of more patrol bikes

Mission
Crime Prevention is part of the Community Services Division.

The mission of the Crime Prevention Section is to provide education and information to the business, educational, and residential communities in Lynnwood, with the goal of reducing opportunities for crime.

Personnel
Crime Prevention is staffed by 2 crime prevention specialists.

Activity

Volunteer Activity	2006	2007	% Change
Number of Volunteers	80	70	-13%
Volunteer Hours	20845	20256	-3%
Volunteer Training Hours	5162	4103	-21%
Disabled Parking Violations	786	688	-12%
Citizen Assists (lock-outs)	638	437	-32%

Crime Prevention Activity	2006	2007	% Change
Multi Housing Support hours	11	24	118%
Child Car Seat Inspections	274	467	70%
Citizens Academy	1	1	-
Lynnwood University	1	1	-
Press Release / Public Safety Announcements	120	125	4%

Citizens Patrol volunteers receive training in putting out fires

Accomplishments
In 2007, the Crime Prevention Section enhanced and expanded service to the community by emphasizing education and information sharing to reduce opportunities for crime. Crime prevention specialists act as liaisons between the City and the public on crime-related problems. One crime prevention specialist also acted as the public information spokesperson for the Lynnwood Police Department. The Crime Prevention Section consists of two full-time crime prevention officers and one part-time assistant. In addition, there are two main citizen volunteer groups serving the Police Department; Volunteers in Public Safety (VIPS) and Citizens Patrol (CP). There are also several child car seat technicians who volunteer their time to instruct parents and caregivers on the correct way to install child car seats. These groups contributed more than 20,000 hours of service in 2007, the equivalent of 10 full-time employees.

VIPS conduct vacation house checks, deliver internal city mail, check for disabled parking violators, patrol school zones, and help with clerical duties, as needed. They also assist with the Memory Impairment Assistance Program.

Citizens Patrol members act as extra eyes and ears for the Police Department. They help prevent and reduce crime through the observation and reporting of suspicious or possible criminal activities. Citizens Patrol members also conduct bike patrol, disabled parking enforcement, neighborhood visits, radar watch and business watch. They direct traffic at accident scenes and are called out to help with emergencies.

Highlights of extra activities completed by both volunteer groups

• Memorial Vigil for Edmonds Police Chief David Stern.
• Transported adults and juveniles as far north as Marysville and as far south as Renton/Kent.
• Participated in Lynnwood civic events such as: Civic Lights, Fourth of July, Bunny Blast and Flashlight Egg Hunt, Active Shooter Support at Edmonds-Woodway High School, Multi-Cultural Fair, Lynnwood Spring Clean-up, the 5-10 K Rotary Run, Watchmen on the Walls at the Convention Center, Battle of the Bands, garage sale to benefit Shop with a Cop and the actual event, National Night Out, and Lynnwood Moving Forward. They assisted at various community safety fairs, such as: To Build a Park (Meadowdale), Premera Blue Cross Safety Event, Cedar Valley Community School Back-to-School Fair, Ethnic Elders Fair, and Snohomish County Head Start Fair at Edmonds Community College.
• Continued to assist the Police Department in the Lynnwood Against Graffiti program.
• Assisted in two community outreach campaigns for the department’s free Memory Impairment Assistance Program for Lynnwood citizens who have the potential to wander away from caregivers. Twenty Citizens Patrol members worked over 110 hours during the December 2007 urban flooding. Volunteers directed traffic at seven flooded roadways and helped evacuate stranded citizens.

Volunteer Emergency and Incident Response
Volunteers received enhanced training in emergency response, and subsequently continue to be utilized in an even greater capacity. They logged approximately 534 hours responding to emergency call-outs and 1,036 hours staffing special events. They directed traffic 239 times, provided numerous transports for people in need, and assisted with security at various crime scenes.

Child Car Seat Inspection Program
This program is now in its sixth year and has met the increased demand of inspecting and installing child safety restraint seats. Five nationally trained technicians (three full-time employees and two volunteers) staff the program. Four hundred sixty-seven (467) car seat inspections were completed in 2007 at the Lynnwood Police Department, for a total of 760 internal and external program hours. Lynnwood’s Car Seat program is one of the few in the greater Puget Sound area, and as such has served families from Marysville to Tumwater. In 2007 the program also had an opportunity to donate 12 car seats to local families in-need.

Community Crime Prevention Outreach
Crime prevention specialists held a three-day seminar for apartment managers, conducted neighborhood watch meetings, provided tours of the Police Department, spoke to local organizations, and made presentations to the business community. In addition, they taught personal safety and crime prevention to groups of all ages from preschool to seniors. Seven Washington cities, hoping to duplicate the Lynnwood Police Citizens Patrol, VIPS and Citizens Academy, have met with crime prevention specialists to request program information and materials.

Disabled Parking Enforcement
Volunteers continue to enforce disabled parking restrictions by giving verbal and written warnings as well as citations for violations. They had 242 actual written warnings and citations in 2007 and 446 additional verbal contacts, for a total of 688. Members have been trained in the use of the patrol car mobile data computer (MDC), which enhances their ability to conduct this function. The on-going decreases in citations this year are due in part to their vigorous enforcement and education.

Citizens Academy
The Lynnwood Police Department conducted its 17th annual 16-week Citizens Academy for approximately 60 attendees. Of those, 18 graduates have since joined the Citizens Patrol or VIPS.

Memory Impairment Assistance Program
This program, with assistance by the VIPS, increases safety for people who are memory-impaired, by providing them with free wristbands to identify them if they become lost or wander away from caregivers. In 2007, there were 29 people registered for this program. The Crime Prevention Section assisted the City of Shoreline in duplicating this program in 2007.

False Alarm Reduction Program
There were 299 false alarms in 2007. The reduction from 355 in 2006 is due to an intensive educational process, along with a stringent computerized tracking system. There are currently no businesses or residences on “no response” status. The City received $17,625 in revenue from false alarm fines and penalties.

Freeway Cleanup
Citizens Patrol adopted a section of the I-5 freeway in 2006 and agreed to clean their area four times a year as part of their service to the public. They have continued this project. A freeway sign with the group’s name was installed just south of the 220th freeway exchange.

Car Lockout Service
Members of the Citizens Patrol have been extensively trained and equipped to open car doors for citizens who have locked keys in their cars. During 2007, they unlocked about 250 vehicles for grateful citizens. In ten of these situations, infants or children were locked inside.

Citizens Patrol 2004