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Crime Alert!! 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. 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 this happen to you!
Crime Watch Committee We now have a Chairperson for the Crime Watch Committee. Thank you, Claudia Grene. Claudia is 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 Neighborhood 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 Claudia at security@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:
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