Community Services Officer Mike Vercillo had some very important slogans to share with us that are words for everyone to live by: “See Something—Say Something” and “Lock It, Keep It, Hide It.” These two slogans are some of the most important crime fighting tools because it means community involvement. The “See Something—Say Something” program encourages people to call the police department if anything or anyone looks odd or out of place. We are all the eyes and ears for the police department. They cannot be everywhere, but we are! ‘Lock It, Keep It, Hide It” refers to ways to prevent car and property thefts from vehicles.
Officer Vercillo discussed the sudden rise in burglaries three years ago in Arcadia. A special crime task force of detectives from neighboring cities, volunteers, Neighborhood Watch and utilizing all the resources available through the Arcadia Police Department was formed to focus on the issue. As a result, crime dropped 26%. FBI statistics show that whenever there is an active Neighborhood Watch program in place, crime goes down.
Under Chief Guthrie’s leadership, the Arcadia Police Department has adopted a lot of new programs. One is the city patrol beats where the city is divided into five areas with a Lieutenant heading up patrol beats for each area. This form of patrolling allows the officers the chance to get to know the residents and neighborhoods better. There will now be 2 officers dedicated to patrolling the mall, allowing calls for service to be answered quicker. A new Business Watch Program similar to Neighborhood Watch will begin in 2016. Finally, a Mobile Command Post was acquired so that the police department can set up on site for any major incident. It’s clear Arcadians are in good hands with the Arcadia Police Department.