How should you watch your neighborhood? You have options

How does a resident help protect his or her neighborhood?

That's the question Menifee residents are asking themselves as new housing developments are completed and the population climbs over the 90,000 mark. Yes, the traditional means of protection is the police department, which in this case is the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, through contract with the city. But even with the approval of recent police staff increases, those resources are limited.

Meanwhile, break-ins of cars, homes, mail boxes, and other crimes continue to concern residents here, as they do throughout the region. Are there ways residents can help the police officers do their job?

There are, says Sheriff's Captain and Menifee Police Chief Brandon Ford, as long as residents understand the safest and most productive ways to support police presence.

"Our priorities for crime prevention are exactly that -- prevention," Ford said. "Our hope is that people will be vigilant in their efforts to fight crime -- lock their doors, keep their things properly secured. Don’t make yourself an opportunity for crime that can’t be passed up by the opportunistic criminal.

"If you find you are the victim of a crime in progress or your neighbor is the victim of a crime in progress, we never want any of our citizens to put themselves in harm’s way. We would much rather they leave that to the professionals. With so many ways to contact us – cell phones, email, texting -- and so many ways of recording events, we would rather be given observant reports from a position of safety."

What constitues "observant reports from a position of safety"? One Menifee resident give her interpretation when recounting her story about witnessing a recent crime in progress in her neighborhood.

Erin Mills was driving away from her home about 7:30 one recent morning in the Shadow Mountain neighborhood, east of Menifee Road and south of Holland Road, when she turned the corner and saw something that seemed out of place. A car was pulled up alongside a parked car, facing the opposite direction, and a man was reaching out of the driver's side window, pulling open the door of a parked car that was unlocked.

From the very beginning, Mills was observant -- which was a great help to police later on.

"It was a white Dodge Neon with blacked-out windows and black rims, older model," she said. "The driver had both car doors open and was grabbing stuff out of the other car. He was a white guy, baseball cap, blue crew-neck sweatshirt, probably early to mid 20s, kind of a smaller guy. He was pulled up next to a white Malibu, emptying stuff into his car.

"I watched for 10-15 seconds. By then, I realized something's not right. I called my husband, who was at home, and said, 'Get down here.' While I was on the phone, the guy pulled up to the car parked behind that car, reached out and tried to see if that door was open. By then, he saw I was watching him and he drove away."

This is a scenario that is described often by area residents. Unfortunately, too often the suspects are viewed only on home surveillance cameras hours later, or the witness decides not to stick around. On the other hand, a victim or witness who is armed may put lives in danger by being too aggressive.

Mills called police right away, then made a decision that must only be an individual choice -- to follow the suspect vehicle. Her husband also followed the vehicle in his truck but lost it in the school traffic that morning. But thanks to Mills' quick call to police, their quick response and her ability to identify the suspect, the suspect and two others were caught in a nearby neighborhood and arrested.

Using the description provided by Mills, officers were able to locate the suspect vehicle and three occupants. Mills was brought to the location, where the three were handcuffed and sitting on the curb.

"They made one come out and asked if it was him. I said, 'It looks a lot like him, but he's not wearing the same outfit and he has no hat.' So they brought out the next guy and I said, 'That's your guy -- hat and everything.' "

Mills said he realizes that not every resident wants to get involved to such an extent. She also expressed frustration that even after being arrested, suspects like this are often right back out on the street. In cases like these, Deputy Mike Vasquez said the crime often is considered petty theft and the suspect is cited and released. And in this case, he said the victim of the theft Mills witnessed chose not to prosecute.

Even so, she said that is all the more reason residents should take whatever steps they can to increase awareness of suspicious individuals in their neighborhood and report incidents to police.

"I've never seen a little white car like that in my neighborhood," Mills said. "Usually I would just keep going, but something made me stop because it didn't look right. If think if more people stop and listen to their gut instinct on that kind of stuff, the more aware and safer we all will be."

Mills said her neighborhood does not have an active Neighborhood Watch program but she would support one. Residents interested in hearing details about the Neighborhood Watch program and the Sheriff's Department's crime prevention program should contact Sheriff's Community Service Officer John Thomas at 951-210-1110 or by email at jethomas@riversidesheriff.org.

And while being vigilant in helping to keep your neighborhood safe, Ford urges residents to be safe and smart in their actions.

"To the extent they choose to follow or confront an individual ... we will certainly respond and are there to assist them, but we would never encourage anyone to put themselves in harm’s way," Ford said. "Don’t get me wrong; we’re grateful for people who are willing to go the extra mile and we are proud to be partners with them. But we would never ask them to do that, because many times they are operating off limited information and end up in confrontations that aren’t supported by the evidence."