PORT ANGELES — A rise in vehicle prowls in Port Angeles has prompted scheduling of two Neighborhood Watch meetings to help residents learn how to curb property crimes.
The two meetings are set from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today and Thursday in the Emergency Operations Center Training Room in the basement of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
Today’s meeting is primarily for those living on the east side of town while Wednesday’s meeting will focus more on the west side, said Lorraine Shore, administrative coordinator for the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, which is hosting the meetings with the Port Angeles Police Department.
“There have been several incidents in property crimes in Port Angeles which led to these two meetings,” Shore said.
“The most significant increase in property crimes in the city of Port Angeles is vehicle prowls,” Shore said.
Property crime statistics within the city limits were anaylzed from January through August this year and in 2014.
“Vehicle prowls increased by 149 percent this year compared to the same time period last year, and auto thefts increased 35 percent,” Shore said.
“There have been 207 reported vehicle prowls to date and last year there were 83 reported.”
However, there has been a 28 percent decrease in overall thefts this year over 2014 and “little change in the rest of the property crimes from 2014 to 2015,” Shore said.
In county areas surrounding the city, statistics show “a decrease of 30 percent in thefts from 2014, a decrease of 16 percent in burglaries from 2014, a decrease of 53 percent in malicious mischief, but an increase of 57 percent in vehicle prowls,” Shore said.
Crime prevention education “has proven to decrease the amount of crime in areas with active and educated participants of our Neighborhood Watch program,” Shore noted.
“Our program is designed to educate residents on how to effectively communicate with law enforcement and how to target harden your home and property.”
Target hardening means making targets — anything a criminal would want to steal — more difficult to remove unnoticed through the use of locks, floodlights or other security measures.
During the meetings, representatives of the Port Angeles Police Department, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office and Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will offer tips and crime statistics, Shore said.
Law enforcement officials also will provide information about “how each agency is run so residents have an understanding of the realities of policing in Clallam County and the necessity of the public working with law enforcement to protect their belongings and each other,” she added.
“Property crimes remain the biggest issue for Clallam County residents and we have found that failing to lock vehicles and homes plays a significant role in becoming a victim of property crime,” Shore said.
“Criminals are very opportunistic and look for easy targets which are unlocked mail boxes, vehicles and homes.”
Auto thefts are no different.
“The auto-thefts that occur are almost 100 percent due to the vehicle owner leaving keys in the vehicle as it is extremely difficult to ‘hot-wire’ vehicles,” Shore said.
“Since 2000, nearly all vehicles have chips or transponders in their ignition keys which have to be present for the vehicle to start.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
