March 11, 2024 Call to order at 6:35pm with 8 participants
Rashid Ali, Crime Prevention Specialist [CPS], MPD Second Precinct.
The MPD offers a program called “Home Security Assessment”. A CPS comes to your home for a walk through and a walk outside to assess what you have in place. They make suggestions for changes to improve your safety at home and in your neighborhood.
It will help understanding some of these suggestions if you know there are three components to a criminal’s successful behavior. They must have a DESIRE to commit the crime. They must have the MEANS of committing the crime. They must have the OPPORTUNITY to commit the crime.
We have no control over a criminal’s DESIRE or their MEANS to commit a crime. We can prevent a crime by taking away the criminal’s OPPORTUNITY.
When we take away a criminal’s OPPORTUNITY, we improve SECURITY in our neighborhood AND in our homes.
Home security depends on three layers for action:
OUTER PERIMETER – This includes resources like the Police Dept. and Precinct, the Fire Dept., the neighborhood association. Learn what those resources have for you.
INNER PERIMETER – This is your block and the people across the street. How well do you know your neighbors? Can you and your neighbors help each other by watching the house if someone’s out of town, or just noticing if something looks different.
DWELLING SECURITY – This will be covered more deeply in this presentation.
OUTER PERIMETER:
Minneapolis Property Information* offers a lot of info.: Where is your MPD Precinct Station? Fire Station?
That’s where you report suspected criminal activity or fire hazards.
What Ward do you live in? Your Ward handles livability issues that are not criminal but should have city attention.
Your neighborhood organization may link you to special offers. For example, Logan park is currently offering rebates for home security upgrades (max. $350). Waite Park had a similar program in the past.
INNER PERIMETER:
Know that your security at home starts with the people on your block and other close neighbors. Look at your block; meet your neighbors; know when the mail is delivered and what else happens on a daily basis.
When he does a home assessment, CPS Ali offers information on the advantages of joining or forming a Block Club. Block clubs increase home safety for neighbors, share updates about local events and education opportunities. Anyone who’s interested can contact their CPS.**
What is a Block Club?
A Block Club is a team of neighbors who:
- Work to solve community issues
- Are informed and involved
- Take advantage of email alerts from the local police and fire departments and the neighborhood assn.
- Participate in citizens’ academies
- Help reduce opportunities for crimes
- Use best prevention practices
- Are active bystanders
- Observe and report
- Know each other
HOME ASSESSMENT
Before he shows up, CPS Ali looks at the MPD Crime Dashboard to see what the crime numbers look like in that neighborhood.*** If there are a lot of unforced entries to homes because they were not locked up, he’ll emphasize safety suggestions aimed at that. Other common threads will be talked about.
INSIDE: The garage is often the most vulnerable and attractive: people leave expensive bikes, power tools and more in there. Look at the lighting — motion activated lights actually can be a deterrent.
Security: When you are away, disable your garage door opener or secure the door in another way. If thieves can get into your home directly from the garage, they will.
Never leave your remote door opener in the car. Instead, use your phone app to unlock your garage.
Often, home access from the garage is unlocked. It should be as secure as any other entry door. If someone can get into an attached garage and find the house door unlocked, they can enter a home while residents are asleep — home invasion.
INSIDE: Home issues
Entries: Door construction / Door locks (both screen and entry doors)
CPS Ali emphasized the importance of upgrading your door security.
Entry doors: Strike plates — Make sure your exterior doors have high security Strike Plates. The strike plate should be 7″ to 10″ long. [EQ: The plates that come with standard deadbolt locks may be as short as 2″! Someone can just kick in that door.] The plates should have 6 holes and should be installed with 3″ screws, which are long enough to go into the construction 2x4s that frame the door opening. Deadbolts should go 1″ into the strike plate.
Sliding doors: Some sliding doors are issued with magnet locks that can be opened from the inside with a tap of your foot. Burglars have learned they can open the door from the outside with a powerful magnet. Instead, look for sliding door pin locks (some can be operated with your foot). Horizontal channel blocks are another way to keep these doors in place.
Windows: Your windows should not be openable more than 6″. Newer windows come with pin locks installed. If you have older windows, you can install pin locks, which cost about $2 for each window. You can also put blocks in the window channel beside the upper sash.
Some windows are made with shatter resistant glass, but windows with older glass can be covered with security window film, which holds shattered glass in place (and provides UV protection). Cost is under $2.50/sq.ft. You can also add a layer of plexiglass for security or replace your glass entirely with plexiglass.
Air conditioners and window fans should be bolted to the house frame so they can’t be pushed or kicked in. You can add channel blocks above that as well.
Important papers, valuables, and some handguns can be stored in a waterproof, fireproof safe, bolted to the floor. A thief won’t take the time or want to make the noise to remove it.
LANDSCAPING:
Shrubs should be 18-24″ away from entry points.
Hedges should be 6″ shorter than windows or shorter than 3′. Leave space between plants so you can anyone there.
Trees should be trimmed from ground to 7′ (or so they don’t block the view of people approaching.
Select thorny shrubs along fence lines, under windows and in egress window wells. (EQ: Google “Thorny bushes” “zone 4” and “Security plants”)
ELECTRONICS: Home security systems.
They can be relatively low cost and are easy to use.
Check: what comes with the set up? Is there a recurring cost? Is it easy to use? Who calls 911? (you or the system)
Does it include calling the Fire Dept.?
Systems used to be hardwired to a phone line, which could be cut.
CPS Ali prefers to see wireless systems. Wireless incorporates Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, radio and other wireless connections. You can check your own property with a motion activated camera. Some connect to a mic, so you can warn off intruders. Many available systems can be installed by a homeowner.
Motion detector lights are always useful but especially when focused on a “hiding spot”.
Experienced thieves don’t want to break into a home they have not already cased. They want to know what to expect.
Someone compiled a list of what “the pros” look for in a target home:
No home security
Poor exterior lighting
Open, unlocked garage door.
Windows and/or doors unlocked
Window air conditioning unit
Easily accessible backyard
You make it obvious you have valuables
Expensive landscaping
Empty homes
Piles of mail
Social Media announcements “Hawaii, here we come!”
No dogs
No vehicles in the drive
Home is near a major highway (quick getaway)
Emilie spotted a program, Crime Prevention through Environmental Design***** and asked CPS Ali to look into it. He responded:
It’s a course that teaches how to manage the environment to reduce crime. This course should be given a full presentation, but briefly:
There are core 5 principles:
Natural surveillance: Using space to maximize visibility — gives intruders the feeling they are being watched
Natural access control: Managing how people move through a space
Territoriality: Marking boundaries so people know they are entering a controlled space.
Activity Support: Reminding people what appropriate behavior is. “Do not run in the store”
Maintenance: Neglected look suggests no one is watching.
From the website, “. . . [A]n area’s physical design can influence human behavior, reduce crime, fear of crime, and improve quality of life. CPTED uses various tools to evaluate environmental conditions and utilize intervention methods to improve space and how it is used. Whether it is new construction, existing construction, green space, schools, businesses, or neighborhoods, CPTED strategies have proven to be successful.”
EQ: It appeared in my feed and looked interesting so I showed it to CPS Ali. When I read the first page of the website and thought about it, I realized how often our behavior is shaped by how our surroundings are designed. This is true in parks, retail stores, malls, schools, and in our homes. Check the website FFI.
QQ Ring doorbell cameras are often not good at getting a face view of the person stealing a package or whatever. What is a good installation?
CPS Ali: Every installation depends on the skill level of the person doing it. Most modern cameras have a very wide view.
Do some research. Maybe hire an installer. Ask your friends. This is a one-time investment, so make sure you like what you see before you tell them you are satisfied.
QQ: 80% of the residents of SE Como are renters. What responsibilities do landlords have for dwelling security?
CPS Ali: From the landlord’s point of view: You don’t know how responsible your tenants are. As a landlord, I would want to put in as much as I could to protect the property and the renters. You owe it to your renters to keep them safe, but you also owe it to yourself to protect your property and investment.
QQ: I have a ring doorbell. I’ve seen notices about sharing security videos with the police. Are there any regulations we should know about?
CPS Ali: I’ll just speak from the CPS perspective: we get stills, videos, car information, anything that would identify a suspected criminal.
We give it to property crimes investigators. If it’s meaningful, it will be shared with Inspector Torborg, precinct-wide, and elsewhere if it seems meaningful.
Inspector Torborg: There’s a program where you can register your security camera with the city. The idea is that if there is a crime nearby, investigators can check the database and see who has security cameras that might have captured the incident. There’s a link on the city website.**** [EQ: an app for homeowners: https://connect-minneapolis-c4d53b85.netlify.app/ ]
QQ: I get a notification when one of my daughters is traveling, usually on Facebook. Who all can see this?
CPS Ali: That is usually a notification and only goes to a limited number of people, who have been given permission to receive it. It is not a true “broadcast” and unless there’s a breach it should be OK. There are many platforms: Facebook, iPhone, computer and more. [CPS left at this point]
QQ: One more question: Does the CPS also work with U of MN students? A lot of these breakins happen to students, especially when they’re on spring break.
CPS Toller: I also work with UMPD and with Nick Juarez.
Quast: Good! We’ll be having a UMPD/MPD presentation cooperative work later this year.
*https://apps.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/AddressPortalApp/
** https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/departments/police/cps/ OR https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/public-safety/prevent-prepare/crime-prevention/block-clubs/
***https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/government-data/datasource/crime-dashboard/ [EQ: to find stats for your area, click on the white box in the upper right corner of the screen, “View Crime Details”. Enter date range in their format, scroll down for your n’hood. For a good how-to use this resource, see CPS Ali’s presentation: https://courtwatch2pac.com/?s=dashboard Click on the top entry.
2nd Precinct Advisory Council 