We have successfully completed the four-week test with secondary-duty police officers patrolling our neighborhood at night and responding to alerts from the AwareNet cameras.
Directly as a result of reviewing alerts, the officers made two arrests and responded to several suspicious incidents.
Prior to the test, we identified the following evaluation criteria:
- The security officer can immediately and consistently respond to AwareNet alerts.
- The security officer can successfully and consistently disrupt thieves from continuing their activity.
- The frequency and severity of criminal activity justifies the cost.
Items 1 and 2 were confirmed by the two arrests and multiple other responses to suspicious activity.
Item 3 is more subjective. In the six weeks prior to the test, there were 12 separate nights with criminal activity (but we did not have an officer patrolling). Temperatures dropped to freezing the first week of the test so it’s not surprising there was a corresponding drop in criminal activity. However, when warm weather returns, so will the higher frequency of criminal activity. And there’s no reason to think the criminals will carry fewer weapons or be any less likely to use them.
Based on the results, the SLHNA Board voted to continue to the next step of the project – collecting donations to pay the ongoing cost of the security officers (approximately $13,500 per month). The request is for every household to donate at least $180 lump sum (or at least $15 per month) to help pay for 12 months of security officer service.
Below is a link to the PayPal campaign where you can make your donation by credit card or your PayPal account:
The campaign keeps track of the total donations, but if you prefer Venmo:
@SLHNA
Enter “Security” in the “What’s if for?” area.
You may also write a check payable to “SLHNA” and mail it to:
SLHNA Security
PO Box 190314
St Louis, MO 63119
Be sure to tell your friends and neighbors!
