                   |
|---|
|
Keeping Cantamar a safe community is very important to all of us.
Board to continue Off-duty Police Patrols The Off-duty Police Patrols have been well-received by the community.
- - - - 90th Place is now an official Crime Watch street 90th Place held a Crime Watch meeting on October 24th If you'd like your street to become a "Crime Watch" street, - - - - Crime Updates Update 7/11: Due to the Homeowners' Association's coordination with the Cutler Bay Police and neighborhood vigilance, there has been a reduction in incidents within Cantamar, and there are no issues at the current time. The last incident was a home burglary and the perps were caught in 3 days!
Update 11/10:The house for sale on the corner of SW 89th path & 208th fell victim to theft. All of the appliances were stolen, anything left in the house that was worth anything including the trash dispenser, and even the outdoor A/C unit was taken!
Update 10/10:Officer Mary Ann Stahl spoke at the October 2010 HOA meeting. She was pleased to report that incidents are down while arrests are up
Update 4/10: An unlocked car was stolen from a house on 207th Street in broad daylight. If you must leave your car in the driveway,
Update 3/10: A Cantamar resident reported that someone removed outgoing payments from her mailbox and altered the checks, cashing them for more than originally written. Another homeowner spotted a white Ford 4x4 pickup truck tampering with mailboxes and reported it to the police. For your own finanacial protection, do not place outgoing mail in your mailbox. Take your paid bills to the post office to mail, or consider paying bills online.
Update 2/10:There continues to be vehicle break-ins in the neighborhood. Protect your vehicles and those of your guests by locking them. And be sure not to leave anything valuable in any vehicles. Be particularly alert if you host a party, with many cars in the driveway and on the street.
Update 3/09: Several vehicles in the neighborhood have been broken into this month. If possible, please keep your vehicles in your garage. If not, be sure to lock them, and don't leave anything valuable in your vehicle. Crooks are likely to move on to an easier or more desirable target.
Update 1/09: On the evening of January 25, a homeowner had all the gas siphoned out of her car, leaving it on Empty. This is just another reason to keep your car in the garage. If that isn't possible, you may want to consider purchasing a locking gas cap.
- - - - Please be extra vigilant! Unfortunately in this tight economy more people are turning to crime. Don't let it happen to you...
Crime Watch Committee
We once again are looking for a Chairperson for the Crime Watch Committee.
We are also collecting contact information to make it easy to establish phone chains for Crime Watch.
Block Captains Needed We still need block captains for most blocks in the neighborhood.
There is very little work involved.
You will need to contact your neighbors on your block
and get their contact information (e-mail address and phone numbers).
Once you have that, you will coordinate with the Crime Watch committee Only once this is done will the county's Citizens' Crime Watch organization provide us with Crime Watch signs. This will be done on a block-by-block basis. If you would like to be a Block Captain, please contact the Board at board@cantamarhoa.org Citizens' Crime Watch of Miami-Dade Alina Lopez, Crime Prevention Coordinator from Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County and Officer McLaughlin of the Cutler Bay Police spoke at the April 2010 HOA Board of Directors meeting. Officer McLaughlin told us that there are 53 officers assigned to Cutler Bay, including 6 in the General Investigative Unit (plain clothes, plain cars) who are usually the first to respond to reports of a suspicious person or vehicle. They want you to call any time you see something suspicious. We know our neighborhood and who should be there--they don't. But they will come out and question anyone if it is reported. He also reported that the police have identified the graffiti artists that have been tagging mailboxes and walls in Cutler Bay. He said to watch for skateboarders with backpacks or paint sticks in their pants. There was a discussion of security cameras. Both Ms. Lopez and Officer McLaughlin agreed that cameras don't necessarily deter crime, but that they can aid police in identifying perpetrators (if they don't cover the camera or their faces). There is some good technology out there, including cameras that link to your alarm system. Adding more layers of protection is good, but don't let it give you a false sense of security. Officer McLaughlin let us know that you can go to the My Neighborhood page of the Miami Dade website (http://gisims2.miamidade.gov/MyNeighborhood/mpomap.asp?Cmd=INIT&WT.mc_id=HomeNeighOS) and use the drop down menus on the left to search for Crime Incidents near your address. He also said he would send any Cantamar crime statistics to Claudia as our Crime Watch Chair. We discussed that car break-ins seem to be a big issue in the neighborhood, and he confirmed that 90% of cars broken into are unlocked. Be sure to lock your car if it is not in the garage. A homeowner pointed out that the plastic clips that "lock" our windows break very easily and that window locks can be purchased at home improvement stores and easily installed. Ms. Lopez went over the steps to establish Crime Watch in our neighborhood. She suggested that once Block Captains are established and have the contact information gathered for their block, the next meeting should be in the neighborhood (possibly broken into sections). Once that is done we can get signs stating that we have Crime Watch in our neighborhood. The signs do deter crime as criminals prefer to work where they won't be watched and reported. - - - - Carmen Caldwell, executive director of Citizens' Crime Watch of Miami-Dade, spoke at the October 2008 Homeowner's Association Board of Directors meeting. There was excellent attendance at the meeting and many homeowners were able to hear her informative talk.
Here are a few of her main points:
Miami-Dade County has a Juvenile Curfew in effect. The Juvenile Curfew Ordinance makes it unlawful for any person under the age of 17 to linger, stay, congregate, move about, wander, or stroll in any public place during curfew hours. The curfew applies between 11 pm and 6 am Sunday night to Friday morning, and between midnight and 6 am Friday night to Sunday morning.
There are the following exceptions:
If a juvenile does not comply with the Ordinance he/she will be taken into custody and transported home or to a police station, substation or other appropriate holding facility where pertinent information is recorded and a parent or guardian notified. If a juvenile is cited 3 or more times for not complying with the Ordinance, a petition for dependency may be filed in Juvenile Court. The parent or legal guardian will receive a notice to appear and may be punished by a fine up to $500.
Parents, be sure your children are aware of these rules.
|
|---|
