Picture of Crime... in Grand Terrace

Picture of Crime in Grand Terrace:

The following article is deserving of comment. The hoods with a hat or sweat shirt and dope, and a spray can will still visit the park and not be identifiable for arrest by the one cop town sheriff while they are booking a person at central booking. Do a blog search, there is crime here, and with the Town Center Development, we are just inviting More Crime to Grand Terrace.

How about putting cameras on Barton Road, and ticket speeders and cars that don't respect pedestrian traffic at De Berry and Mt. Vernon, where the Jr. High School students cross. How about putting speeder cameras on those down slope roads where drivers let their cars just run free.

How about, putting cameras and audio devices in the Back Rooms of the Chambers Offices and meeting rooms.

I suggest to all businesses in Grand Terrace they should install a camera and post the signs, and let the live cam web cast of Grand Terrace go forth. We should be able to click and see who's hanging out at Starbucks, or the Donut Shop. Is that Tom Schwabs car??? Here or there??? How fun.

This blog is a direct result of the City not being able to inform the Public with real crime information. What is published here are the Arrests. We can't get detail on Calls to dispatch, nor is there away to find out how much is unreported because to call the sheriff is equal to a 3 to 4 hour wait for an officer to show up to take the call. What is Reported to the FBI is the minimum of the serriouse crime.

People just don't report car breakins, theft of personal property and so forth. If you call this type of crime in, it will easily take 3 hours to have an officer to show up to take a report. The dispatcher even tries to tell you that it isn't worth the officer's time to file a report on things like car breakins, theft, and so forth. Wait you will, for shift changes, bookings, and calls to aid other cities.

Cameras are good, who will do the watching. Who will follow up. on what is recorded? Let the City be entertained, let it have a live feed to the web.


Article Display Date: 3/31/2006 12:00 AM
GT expects better cameras to deter crime at parks
Stephen Wall, Staff WriterSan Bernardino County Sun

GRAND TERRACE - The city prides itself on being one of the safest in the Inland Empire - and has a plan to keep it that way.

The last homicide was nearly 20 years ago, and there are fewer crimes per capita than in Loma Linda, Redlands, Colton, Riverside and San Bernardino, according to FBI statistics.

In 2004, Grand Terrace had 16 reported violent crimes eight robberies, six assaults and two rapes, according to FBI numbers.

But despite the relative tranquillity, city officials have been dealing with a recent spike in graffiti and vandalism at Pico Park. To stop the problem from getting worse, officials plan to install video-surveillance cameras at the city's two parks and child-care center.

"We want people to know it's not easy pickings in Grand Terrace," Assistant City Manager Steve Berry said. "We want to continue to be a low-crime city."
The City Council on April 13 is expected to consider spending about $15,000 to put eight cameras at the child-care center and four each at Richard Rollins and Pico parks.

The new cameras are technologically superior to the portable battery-operated cameras that were installed at the parks about three years ago, Berry said.
The old motion-activated cameras, which will remain, could only take pictures of a small area of the park, Berry said.

The new solar-powered digital devices placed in tamper-proof boxes would be centrally mounted on the concession stand and restroom buildings, he said. They would face in all directions to capture activity throughout the parks.
The new systems can record 24 hours a day for 20 days before the material is automatically erased, Berry said.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which provides law enforcement in the city, would be able to view the recorded images if a crime occurred, he said.

The cost for an entire camera system at each site is about $5,000 the same price as one of the old cameras, he said.
The new cameras would be accompanied by signs letting people know they are under video surveillance.

Residents and council members welcome the addition of the improved cameras.
"I think it could be a deterrent for vandalism, graffiti, drug activity and crimes against children if there were cameras in our community centers and parks," said Bobbie Forbes, a longtime resident and local real-estate agent.
Councilwoman Lee Ann Garcia said she wants families to feel safe when they go to the park.

"When you see repeated vandalism in one spot, there's got to be a way of stopping it," said Garcia, who has a 7-year-old son. "Unfortunately, there are some people out there who instead of thinking of the park as a nice place for a family outing, they think of it as a place to damage property."