Watching the watchers

Marisa O’Neil

When Newport Beach residents are vacationing, volunteers from the

Police Department will watch their homes -- and look out for others

watching their homes.

Residents who call and notify the Newport Beach Police Department

that they’ll be out of town can rest assured that a trained set of

eyes will be watching for anything unusual at their homes.

About half a dozen police volunteers are making rounds every week

to help keep neighborhoods safe, Newport Beach Sgt. Steve Shulman

said.

“It reduces crime by making people aware of what’s going on in

their neighborhood,” Shulman said. “And if there is a burglary, it

reduces the time until we respond.”

The uniformed volunteers will go out to the homes and pick up

newspapers, take advertisements off doorknobs and check for open

windows or doors.

If something’s amiss, they’ll log it and notify the owner and, if

necessary, police officers.

People in Newport Beach are usually pretty well acquainted with

their neighbors and watch out for trouble when people are away,

Shulman said.

But few residents are aware that the Police Department will

provide an extra set of eyes, adding empty homes to their weekly

rounds.

“Part of our job is the visibility,” police volunteer Roger Otte

said.

When people see a uniform and badge in the neighborhood, even on a

volunteer, they know that people are looking out for problems, Otte

said.

Neighbors often tell the volunteers if anything strange has been

going on, like parties thrown in the owners’ absence, he said.

And they’ll offer safety advice to other homeowners they come

across.

“We’ll check open garages and leave a note on the floor that says,

‘The amount of time it took to put this note here, someone could

steal a bike,’” police volunteer Richard Simon said.

Volunteers graduate from the department’s citizen’s police academy

and must pass background checks and screening tests, he said.

“The volunteers we use are also residents,” Shulman said. “It’s

virtually like having your neighbor check your residence.”

The checks augment common sense, he advised.

Even with people watching a home, he said, residents should make

them look as lived-in as possible, canceling the newspaper,

forwarding mail and putting timers on lights.