✉ by Joe Steiner, Chair, Safety & Security Committee
Phone:
Many thanks to all of our residents for helping make our HOA area safer and more secure. Actually the safety and security of our area depends on us, the residents. What we the residents do, or don’t do, can affect our safety.
We know that we reside in one of Tucson’s safer environments. We also know that we are not immune to unlawful acts, severe or not. What can we, as residents, do to preserve our safety and security?
Good lighting is a very effective and cost-efficient way to deter crime. We have yard lights next to the sidewalk that brighten up the area. When our lights are on they benefit us as well as our neighbors. When our lights or those of our neighbors are out, our safety can be diminished. Keep those lights on!
When you park your car in your driveway, be sure to lock its doors. Just because the car is on your property does not mean that a passerby can’t stop to see if the car’s doors are unlocked and then remove items of value.
Many of us enjoy using the community swimming pools. One way to keep non-residents out is to be sure to close/lock the gate behind you. Do not prop it open so others can enter. And when you leave, be sure the gate is closed/locked. On occasion, non-residents have gained access to the pools and committed some vandalism. If you happen to see a non-resident at a pool or witness an act of vandalism, call 911 as soon as possible.
Speaking of 911, no one on your HOA board is a certified law enforcement officer. If you see something suspicious in the area, the first thing to do is to call 911. Even if you think the infraction is minor, the Sheriff’s Department wants to be informed. Its patrol officers are interested in looking for patterns of criminal activity. What happens here may also be happening in other nearby areas.