Sheriff’s Specialist Works to Stop Crime Before It Starts

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is the long arm of the law in Poway, providing law enforcement services to the city and surrounding areas from the in the heart of town. Deputies in patrol cars are a familiar sight on the streets, whether they’re conducting a routine traffic stop or responding to a call for help.

While solving crimes and putting away criminals keep deputies and detectives busy, the Sheriff’s Department also offers services meant to prevent crimes from happening in the first place. The Crime Prevention Unit is staffed with specialists who work with the community through a number of different programs, including the well-known Neighborhood Watch.

In Poway, Darlene Duncan has been the crime prevention specialist for almost six years and works from the Bowron Road station. While she has a background in forensics and crime scene investigation, she is a civilian employee and not a sworn officer. Her job is not to investigate crimes, but to help residents and business owners avoid becoming victims of crimes of opportunity.

“I want to keep your name off a crime report,” Duncan said.

Residents love Poway’s reputation as a low-crime area, and that presents Duncan with challenges, especially from homeowners who let their guards down and don’t take simple measures such as locking windows and doors and keeping garage doors closed. She recalled a recent case of a family in 4S Ranch that left home for a few hours in the afternoon without turning on the alarm system or locking all of the windows. Even though it was broad daylight, someone got into the home and got away with a heavy haul.

“At last count this was a $60,000 burglary,” Duncan said.

Crimes like these are the reason the Neighborhood Watch program was started, to encourage residents to report suspicious activities so deputies can respond as quickly as possible, maybe even catching criminals in the act. Duncan oversees 62 Neighborhood Watches in her jurisdiction, which includes all of Poway and 4S Ranch. She estimated that around 20 of those have not had a meeting in two years or longer and are considered dormant.

Neighborhood Watch programs are made up of residents who pledge to keep an eye on each other’s properties and report suspicious people or activities. While Duncan assists each program, they’re run by the residents themselves, who hold occasional meetings to discuss crime-prevention techniques.

“Virtually all of these started out because something happened on the street, they were all worried about burglaries, they were very concerned about things that they had heard and said, ‘Let’s get a Neighborhood Watch going,’ ” Duncan said.

Keeping a Neighborhood Watch program active is a challenge, especially in a low-crime area. Many of the programs lose steam “when things quiet down and memories fade and despite nice urgings from me,” Duncan said.

Duncan acknowledged that living in a low-crime area like Poway can lead to residents becoming complacent about “target hardening” their homes, closing and locking every door and window like a fortress. They tell her they moved here from other communities because it’s safer, and they like the feeling that they don’t have to lock their doors. Her answer?

“Ladies and gentlemen, the crooks think that way too. You’re a very convenient community to I-15,” she said. “You’re a very easy community to get to. Crooks are going to go where they know that’s how you think.”

The crime prevention unit also works with property managers and owners of rental communities through the crime-free multihousing program, which sets standards regarding background checks for prospective tenants. Tenants also sign an agreement that they will face eviction if certain activities occur on or around the property. Management must also meet a lengthy list of conditions, including having deadbolt locks and peepholes on the doors and maintaining the landscaping and lighting.

Once all of the conditions are met, that property is certified by the program and incoming tenants can feel that they’re moving into a safe community. Duncan has 12 certified properties in her jurisdiction, and they can lose their certification if problem tenants aren’t evicted. She continues to work with property managers after their property is certified.  

“They know I’m monitoring the arrest reports, they know I’m monitoring the computer for calls for service, if the deputies are there all the time,” Duncan said. “They’ll know if an individual was arrested on their property that lives there.”

Duncan also performs inspections of homes and businesses to find lapses in security. She can come in to make suggestions on how to prevent a break-in, and also after a burglary or other crime to help prevent something happening again. New businesses will often get a visit from Duncan, offering tips to make crooks think twice about targeting them.

“I will come out and welcome them and give them my commercial burglary flier and encourage them to put a laminated sign on the door that says, ‘No cash in store after closing,’ ” she said. Leaving the cash register open at night with the empty cash drawer sitting on top is a suggestion she makes.

Property crimes aren’t the only ones that are preventable. Duncan and the other specialists on the prevention unit work with children and teens with everything from keeping them off drugs to dealing with cyberbullying. She continues to stress that a low-crime community stays that way through active involvement by the community.

“Poway loves its low-crime reputation,” Duncan said. “Protect your low-crime community by not getting a false sense of security.”