BRISTOL VIRGINIA SHERIFF S OFFICE CRIME PREVENTION UNIT 2010 ANNUAL REPORT

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1 BRISTOL VIRGINIA SHERIFF S OFFICE CRIME PREVENTION UNIT 2010 ANNUAL REPORT The Bristol Virginia Sheriff s Office Crime Prevention Unit had a very active year from January, 2010 through July, The unit is headed by Deputy J. Kevin France, who is a Certified Crime Prevention Specialist. SPECIALIST CERTIFICATION Deputy France is certified by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services as both a Crime Prevention Specialist and Instructor. He has been assigned to the Crime Prevention Unit since He serves as an Instructor and Agency Trainer/Coordinator for Project Lifesaver International and provides instruction to agencies in Southwest Virginia and Upper East Tennessee. He is certified as a trainer in the Community Emergency Response Team program administered by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management Agency. He provides instruction several times throughout the year for the Southwest Virginia Law Enforcement Academy on topics such as Dealing with Memory Impaired Individuals, Basic Crime Prevention, and Law Enforcement and Autism. He, along with the Alzheimer s Association, introduced Virtual Dementia Training that is provided to every law enforcement basic class at the academy. He is an appointee to the Virginia State Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) Council. He is a member of the Bristol Coalition, the Bristol Senior Resources Council, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Bristol Life Saving Crew. CRIME PREVENTION FUNDING Funding for Crime Prevention activities has been made available through a grant received from the United States Department of Justice. This grant has allowed for the purchase of crime prevention educational and promotional items, thus eliminating the need to tap into strained budgets. The grant is shared by the Crime Prevention Units of the Sheriff s Office and the Bristol Virginia Police Department. The annual Senior Citizen Crime Prevention Prom was paid for through corporate and private donations to the TRIAD program. This event will be detailed later in this report.

2 Deputy France, by virtue of being a trainer for Project Lifesaver, receives a stipend for classes that he teaches. Bristol Sheriff Jack Weisenburger has allowed a department vehicle to be utilized for presenting the local classes. All stipends are utilized to purchase batteries and other supplies for the Bristol Virginia Project Lifesaver program. The Bristol Virginia Tennessee Civitan Club also maintains a budget item in case it is needed for batteries and bands for program participants and the Pilot Club of Bristol provides an annual donation for batteries as well. CURRENT STATUS Crime Prevention activities continued through July In August, 2010, the Crime Prevention Specialist was re-assigned to a shift within the jail due to budget shortfalls. Crime Prevention activities from the Bristol Virginia Sheriff s Office ceased and have not resumed as of December 31, This report will detail all activities through July 31, PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH The Bristol Virginia Neighborhood Watch program is very active and continues to grow. The program has grown from two active programs in 2005 to twenty programs in The watch programs include Virginia Hills, Solar Hill Historic District, Ridgecrest, Monarch Place, Bradley Street, West Bristol, Leisure Park Towers, Westfield, Jefferson Apartments, Rice Terrace, Johnson Court, Jones Manor, Stant Hall, Sapling Grove, Lee and Russell Streets, Mary Street, East Ridge, Terry Drive, Douglass Apartments, and Collins Street. Educational programs are presented at each watch meeting and a chance to interact with law enforcement and other city officials is given as well. A review of calls for service in a particular area is given and a secure and safe way to report crimes is given to residents as well. From January until July there were thirty total Neighborhood Watch meetings, with an average attendance of 18 citizens per meeting, for a total of 540 citizens in attendance for the reporting period. The Crime Prevention Specialist from the Bristol Virginia Police Department continues to conduct Neighborhood Watch meetings. PROJECT LIFESAVER Currently there are six active participants on the Bristol Virginia Project Lifesaver program and one client is served jointly by the Washington County Virginia Sheriff s Office. The enrolled population on the program varies due to

3 hospitalizations and advancement of illnesses, especially dementia. There are 10 deputies certified as Electronic Search Specialists. The team provides monthly battery maintenance. Deputy France provided instruction to the Sullivan County, Tennessee Sheriff s Department and the Buchanan and Dickenson County Sheriff s Offices in Virginia during He anticipates providing instruction to the Smyth County Sheriff s Office and the Carter County Tennessee Sheriff s Department during the 1 st quarter of COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM Community Emergency Response Team is still provided on an as-needed basis. The active teams in Bristol are the Solar Hill Historic District, Office Max, Virginia Intermont College, a general team, and the Southeastern Culinary College. During the reporting period, training was provided to Crime Prevention Specialists in Southwest Virginia to provide information and training to their local Neighborhood Watch programs and the Southeastern Culinary College. The training is a joint effort of the Sheriff s Office Crime Prevention Unit, the Bristol Virginia Police Department, Bristol Virginia Fire Department and the Southwest Virginia Emergency Medical Services Council. CHILD SAFETY SEATS During the reporting period, the specialist installed four department assigned child safety seats. These seats were installed as an emergency need. Fifteen seats were installed for citizens who had purchased the seats on their own and twenty citizens had seats inspected and corrected from self-installation. PUBLIC PROGRAMS Deputy France was an active part of WJHL TV-11 s Daytime Tri Cities program. This program is presented Monday-Friday at 10 a.m. and has an audience that covers Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Southern West Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. Six programs were presented and the topics included mail scams, identity theft, child safety seats, teenage drinking and driving, internet safety, and the Easter Bunny project. Deputy France also presented a program on WCYB TV-5 s noon news program on recognition and reporting of Elder Abuse. The audience for WCYB is the same as that for WJHL.

4 The Safe Assured ID program was presented on behalf of First Bank and Trust in February and Verizon Wireless in April. Fifty children were fingerprinted and parents received digital records and ID cards for the children. Public programs were presented to the Bristol Kiwanis Club, Twin City Civitan Club, Bristol VA-TN Civitan Club, the Morning Rotary Club, Bristol Host Lions Club and the Pilot Club. The programs varied from Identity Theft prevention, Scams, Computer Safety, Project Lifesaver and many other crime prevention topics. A total of 250 people attended the meetings. Deputy France also provided one of the opening addresses for the Virginia Pilot International Convention in March, an event attended by Pilot Clubs throughout the state. The Crime Prevention Unit participated in the Bristol Area Homebuilders Show in March. The weekend long event provided free booth space for Crime Prevention promotion and 2000 citizens received information on Crime Prevention and Home Safety. Also during the month of March, Deputy France presented a program to thirty members of the Western Region Association of Commissioner of the Revenue Deputies. The program was on Identity Theft. During the week of Easter, the Sheriff s Office participated in the Easter Bunny Project for the third straight year. The week started with a presentation on Daytime Tri Cities. All events were coordinated by Deputy France. Sheriff Weisenburger, the Easter Bunny (Deputy Jimmy Dillard), Deputy Sandra Booher and the Deputy France visited the Pediatric Wing of Bristol Regional Medical Center during the week and distributed Easter Bunnies to five children in the hospital and emergency department. As a public service from the department, the Easter Bunny made a visit to the primary grades at the city elementary schools and to St. Anne s School. JB the Parrot, the Sheriff s Office Crime Prevention mascot and the specialist participated in the city s annual Easter Egg hunt. It was estimated that 250 children attended the annual event. In April, Deputy France received training as an Instructor in the Car Fit Program. This program provides a safety inspection of automobiles belonging to drivers over the age of 65 and then provides assistance on how to better fit into their cars. The proper fit provides for more safe driving opportunities. Programs were tentatively scheduled, but due to the current situation will have to be rescheduled, hopefully for During the week of April 19 th, Deputy France participated in the Children s Advocacy Center s Celebrate Kids event and as a vendor and participant in the center s annual Cybercrimes Against Children conference. Over 200 people participated in the conference.

5 JB the Parrot and the Crime Prevention Specialist participated in the Bristol Virginia Department of Social Services Family Day. More than 400 people received information on crime prevention during the event. On April 27 th, the specialist received training as an instructor from Dennis Debbaut and Associates on Autism and Law Enforcement. This training was presented in Richmond Virginia by Project Lifesaver International. Since that time, Deputy France has made three presentations, two to classes at the Southwest Virginia Law Enforcement Academy and one to the Sullivan County Tennessee Sheriff s Department. The annual Senior Citizens Crime Prevention Prom was held on May 11, The event was held at the Slater Senior Center and was jointly sponsored by them, the Douglass Senior Center, the Bristol Virginia Police Department, Bristol Virginia Sheriff s Office, At Home Care Services, the Bristol Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and the YWCA. The 250 seniors in attendance enjoyed dancing, a homemade barbecue dinner, door prizes and crime prevention tips given throughout the evening. The Crime Prevention Specialist was the featured speaker during a law enforcement and public safety appreciation breakfast held at Broadmore Assisted Living on May 18 th. The presentation was Honoring Those Who Serve and thirty people were in attendance. Later that same day, a program was presented to seniors at Beaverview Baptist Church and forty people attended that presentation. A presentation on Scams was given to the senior luncheon group at Euclid Avenue Baptist Church on May 25 th. Twenty-five seniors were in attendance for the presentation. Later that same day, 36 students and faculty members at the Morrison School were presented a program on Internet and Personal Safety. On June 14 th, the Crime Prevention Specialist participated in the Office Max Call Center s annual Safety Fair. A presentation was made on Child Car Restraint Devices and also on Crime Prevention. Four hundred employees attended the safety fair. In July, Deputy France participated in the Bristol Redevelopment and Housing Authority s annual Family Fun Day. The event is coordinated through the Bristol Coalition and more than 200 people participated. The specialist distributed information on safety, internet safety, and crime prevention and reporting. COOPERATION The Crime Prevention Specialist has an excellent working relationship with the following local law enforcement agencies: Bristol Virginia Police Department,

6 Washington County, Dickenson County, Buchanan County, Scott County, Wise County, Lee County, Smyth County, and Grayson County Sheriff s Offices in Virginia; Sullivan, Unicoi, and Carter County Sheriff s Offices in Tennessee, and the Virginia State Police. A relationship is maintained with the Bristol Virginia and Tennessee Fire Departments, the Bristol Life Saving Crew and the Southwest Virginia EMS Council. The specialist also works closely with Senior Navigator, the Bristol Virginia Health Department, People Incorporated, Faith In Action, the Bristol Virginia Department of Social Services, the Bristol Crisis Center and the YWCA Adult Day Program. Interagency cooperation is paramount to continue the success of the Crime Prevention Programs. Even though this has been a short year, not by choice, it was a very busy time for the Crime Prevention Unit. Hopefully 2011 will bring a resolve to the budget situation and Crime Prevention activities will resume and contacts can be regained.