Vision We are the Guardians of the Hill: Serving, Protecting, Partnering Mission Our primary mission is to enhance the quality of life in our community. We will accomplish this through the delivery of the highest level of service and principled enforcement of the law. Values Integrity Innovation Accountability Mutual Respect
January 2013 The Community Services Unit hopes that everyone had a great holiday season. It s amazing how fast the holidays have come and gone. We wish everyone good luck with those new year s resolutions. They can be very challenging. Included in this newsletter you will find the safety tip of the month. The Community Service Unit would also like to introduce a very important division of the police department. That division is the Crisis Unit. To some, they are an unknown part of the Chapel Hill Police Department, but they are one of our most valued assets. The Chapel Hill Police Department would like to encourage communities to invest in starting community watch groups in their neighborhoods. You will find on page 6 what community watch is all about. If you are interested in starting a community watch group or need further information, please contact the Community Services Officer assigned to your area. You will find a map of the area breakdowns and the officer that s assigned to that area. You can follow the latest Chapel Hill Police Department news at facebook.com/ chapelhillpd and also on twitter.com/chapelhillpd Sincerely, Rob Roy Sergeant Narcotics/Community Services
Safety Tip of the Month Winter Automobile Safety Tips With the Winter months here, it s easy to leave your car running unattended. Who wants to get into a cold car? Well, this is an opportune time for car thieves to dash in and steal your car and the valuables inside. One of the biggest issues across the country is the spike in automobile thefts. Car thieves are on the hunt for unattended vehicles that are left warming up. It s nice to get into a warm car however, it only takes a car thief seconds to get into a vehicle and drive off. This occurs not only at residences but also at businesses. How many times have you seen or have possibly been the one who parked in front of a gas station or store and ran inside with your car still running. Once again it doesn t take long for a thief to steal your car. So please don t leave your car running unattended. 2012 Crime Statistics: 2011 Crime Statistics: B&E s to Residence: 387 391 B&E s to Businesses: 34 53 B&E s to Vehicles/Larceny: 223 319 Attempted B&E s to Vehicles: 66 30 Burglaries: 38 42 If you are interested in other crime stats please contact the community service officer assigned to your area.
Getting to Know The Chapel Hill Police Department: Introducing the Chapel Hill Police Department s Crisis Unit. The Chapel Hill Police Department Crisis Unit originated as a pilot project of the UNC-CH School of Social Work in the summer of 1972 to provide response to cases where social work intervention was more warranted than police action. The Crisis Unit has expanded in years since and currently serves over 3,500 clients per year, providing on-scene response and/or follow-up to: victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, child/elder abuse, and violent crimes; psychiatric emergencies (commitments, psychotic episodes, and suicidal persons); traumas (death notifications, fires, disasters, accidents involving serious injury or death); conflicts (parent/child disputes, interpersonal conflicts); and, situations involving hostages or barricaded persons. The Crisis Unit employs four full-time master s level crisis counselors. In addition to providing on-scene crisis response, Unit members routinely consult with other Town departments and community agencies to provide case coordination and enhanced response to special populations. While sitting on various community and state task force committees, the Crisis Unit also provides training and presentations to area schools, universities, community groups and businesses on a range of topics, including domestic and sexual violence, law enforcement response to vulnerable populations, strategies for managing conflict, and workplace safety. The Crisis Unit works hand and hand with the enforcement side of the police department. Their professionalism and talents are second to none. We have been very fortunate as a police department to have such an invaluable unit at our disposal. The current staff members of the crisis unit are: Michelle H. Guarino, MSW, LCSW (Unit Supervisor) Sabrina Garcia Sarah Furman Elizabeth Vazquez Learn more about Michelle H. Guarino on the following page.
Introduction Chief Chris Blue would like to introduce the newest addition to the Chapel Hill Police Department family. Michelle Guarino joined us on December 11 th, 2012 as our new Crisis Unit Supervisor. She came to us from the New Hanover County Sheriff s Department where she supervised Case Management Work for over six years. Michelle hails from Sanford, NC where she graduated from Lee Senior High School. She went on to further her education and graduated with a BS in Social Work from UNCW. She continued her pursuit for knowledge by graduating with a Master of Social Work from New York University (NYU). She has worked in the field of Social Work and Counseling for over 13 years. She has spent a great deal of her career working with youth, at-risk youth, and mental health patients, while also volunteering with gang prevention and gang -involved youth. She has been very involved with developing programs for high risk and gang affiliated youth as well as providing intervention counseling and outpatient therapy to youth. Michelle has received numerous accolades during her career, to include The Cape Fear Peace Prize for outstanding achievement in bettering the lives of youth, The Governor s Excellence in Juvenile Crime Prevention Award, and Woman of the Year given by New Hanover County Human Relations Committee. She has co-authored several publications and is also a published poet. She has been trained in almost every facet of social work and has done presentations at many of the state s events for gang prevention and youth intervention. Michelle will be a welcomed addition to the CHPD family and we are excited about learning from all the experience she will bring.
Community Watch What is Community Watch? A program involving the joint efforts of the police department and the community, designed to enhance neighborhood security, heighten the community s power of observation, and to encourage mutual assistance and concern among neighbors. Goals of Community Watch The main objective of Community Watch is to reduce the incidence of crime by: Increasing citizen s awareness of burglary and other neighborhood crimes. Training citizens in the means of better property security and assist them in making their property more secure. (Security Surveys, Operation Identification, and Speakers Bureau) Developing a community action program (Community Watch) where neighbors help watch each other s property and report suspicious persons and activities to police Encouraging all citizens to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in reporting crime Benefits of Community Watch Contacts Communications Awareness What is the Role of the Police Department in Community Watch? The Police Department will assist in getting your Community Watch group started, will attend meetings when invited and will provide criminal statistics for your neighborhood. We also send out police alerts through the block captains to be distributed to the neighborhoods in the event there is a crime or other information that we feel needs to be relayed to citizens. Most neighborhoods already have an informal system in place. Points of Contact Capt. Danny Lloyd dlloyd@townofchapelhill.org (919) 968-2861 Lt. Andrew Smith amith@townofchapelhill.org (919) 932-2997 Sgt. Rob Roy (919) 932-2997 rroy@townofchapelhill.org Area 1 contact Officer K. Lennon: klennon@townofchapelhill.org (919)932-2984 Area 2 contact Officer R. Clark: rclark@townofchapelhill.org (919)969-2068 Area 3 contact Officer M. Geercken: mgeercken@townofchapelhill.org (919)932-2929 Area 4 contact Officer C. Pardo: cpardo@townofchapelhill.org (919)932-2917 (See town map for your area)