Security Patrol in Creekside

Creekside Neighborhood Association held its regularly schedule meeting this past Wednesday. The entire meeting was dedicated to discussing whether or not Creekside should seek bids to hire a security company to patrol our community.

Matt Caroll from Paladin Security discussed the benefits of hiring a private security company at the last Creekside Neighborhood Association meeting. Representatives from Homeowner Associations located inside Creekside also attended the meeting.

Mr. Caroll summarized his experience in the industry and Paladin's philosophy toward its employees and communities it serves. Paladin comes across as dedicated to providing good customer service. Endorsements from other HOA's that employee Paladin this assertion.

The leadership at Paladin all have a background in law enforcement. Mr. Carroll was formerly with the West Sacramento Port Authority before it was privatized. He holds a number of law enforcement related accreditations. And the security officers employed by Paladin are all armed security professionals that are well trained compared to other security companies. Many security companies only observe and call the police. Not Paladin. Paladin will approach suspects, try to diffuse or prevent a situation, but will arrest suspects if necessary.

Now how much is this going to cost?

Well, I can give you generalizations but not specifics. Based on certain assumptions, it would cost each resident about $200.00 a year, or just about $16 a month. This is on the high end. There are many patrol variations that affect cost. And also depending on how large the pool of homes contracted, the per month cost could easily sink to below $10 a month.

What services would Paladin provide?

As mentioned above, Paladin offers various packages that can be custom tailored to a neighborhood's needs. But based on the above assumption and cost, this is what we would get for $16 per month:

• 3 random night patrol
• 1 random daytime patrol
• Respond to calls for service. After first calling 9-1-1, you call Paladin and they will too dispatch a Paladin officer to any calls involving suspicious activity or crime in progress. But call 9-1-1 first. Paladin is not a replacement for the Sacramento PD
• burglary alarm response
• car lock out service
• vacation check service
• battery jump service
• Paladin officers will even escort you from your car to your home if there is a suspect or situation that makes you feel unsafe
• Call city to report street light outages
• Call city to report city code violations such as abandoned cars and graffiti
• Note: Creekside is a Neighborhood Association. Creekside will not hire Paladin or another security company on behalf of all Creekside residents. Only those Creekside residents that pay the monthly fee will be entitled to the above services. I am forming an interest list. See below.
• Yard signs could be provided to indicate your home is protected by Paladin.

What is the next step?

The Creekside leadership and leadership are discussing various options on how to proceed, whether to contract with Paladin, Sac Sheriff or PD or another security company with unarmed guards. Our next meeting will we held the 3rd Wednesday in January. We need your help and input on this important decision. Please join us then. Also, please feel free to discuss on the CNA Yahoo Group.

I would like to start forming a list of those interested in contracting with a security company. I need to hear from those that are interested and willing to pay the $16 a month or less for the above provided services. We need at least 100 homes to get this off the ground. If you are interested, please email me at ucd9699@sbcglobal.net. I will add your name to a list.

In closing, I think is important that Creekside hire some form of security to patrol our neighborhoods. The communities surrounding Creekside: Westlake, Natomas Park, Homecoming Apts, John Laing Homes, and Hampton Village have all taken this step. This leaves Creekside in the middle without any security patrol. and deterrent. As we learned from Kurt McCray, Sac PD's neighborhood watch coordinator, the goal is to move crime out of your neighborhood. The problem as you can see, is we don't want the crime being pushed out of the surrounding communities into Creekside. We want to push it outward and out of Natomas altogether.

Don't remain silent on this! Get involved. Contact me and get on the forming interest list.

Sean