City Revises Youth Curfew

At around midnight last night, a Cellular on Patrol team noticed two young people walking along Finesilver Dr and another jogging on Sweetwood. The patrol did not stop the individuals, all of them females, but the observations prompted a check of the city curfew ordinance.

As it happens, the San Antonio City Council revised the youth curfew just last month. Under the old rules, the time youths were supposed to head home varied by day of the week. For instance, children were to be off the streets by midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.

Now, kids aged 10 to 16 years must be inside by 11:00 pm regardless of day of the week. The ordinance provides a graduated enforcement procedure for SAPD, depending upon the number of times a youth has broken curfew. The curfew doesn't apply when youths are accompanied by a parent or another adult approved by a parent.

In the interest of safety (see the suspicious vehicle incident reported in the June 2009 Safety Committee Report SAPD Responses) and to reduce the potential for property crimes, please ensure your children are off FSR streets by 11:00 pm.

News4: SA has Rampant Vehicle Burglary Problem

News4 WOAI TV reported last night there are over 12,000 vehicle burglaries in San Antonio this year. SAPD is responding with an undercover task force monitoring public parking lots. There have been over 100 arrests since June.

This is little consolation to FSR victims, and there was no distinction on the number of break-ins occurring in front of homes versus parking lots. A second story from WOAI quotes "expert" advice:

• No matter where you park, even if it's your own driveway...never leave anything in plain sight in your vehicle.

June 2009 Safety Committee Report

Vehicle Burglaries
Police logs indicate five autos were burglarized in Finesilver Ranch between 2:00 and 4:00 am, 21 June. Considering anecdotal reporting, burglars may have struck as many as seven vehicles. All of the break-ins occurred on the south side of the neighborhood in front of homes on Atwell Park, Burnwood, Sweetwood, and Twinpost.

Items stolen range from professional sound equipment to portable electronics. The full extent of property damage/ loss and other details are unknown pending release of official reports.

One family reported the burglars opened a garage door at about 3:00 am using a remote that was stowed in a vehicle parked outside. The homeowner's dogs deterred the burglars from entering the garage or other parts of the home. The thieves departed before a description or other details could be obtained.

A review of gate video during the 2:00 - 4:00 am time frame was inconclusive. On this particular night, Blue Armor Security and FSR's Cellular on Patrol neighborhood watch team did not conduct patrols during this time period.

The best advice to protect against vehicle burglaries comes from an official SAPD slogan: "Leave it, Lose it." See previous posts for additional information on vehicle burglaries in FSR.

Truck Damages Gate Stonework
The driver of a moving van clipped the stone pillar at the gate on 16 June. Despite video which clearly captures the hit and run, company officials continue to ignore the board's request for restitution. The board is pressing charges.

Solicitors Return
An Aquafuzion water purification system salesperson conducted door-to-door solicitations 26 June. Using tactics similar to those used last April, the solicitor falsely claimed to be conducting water tests on behalf of local utility companies in order to gain confidence in the product.

Please report solicitors to SAPD (207-7273) and Association Management Services (829-7202). AMS will request a Blue Armor Security response to remove them from the neighborhood.

Cellular on Patrol
Volunteers conducted weekly neighborhood watch patrols. No suspicious activity was observed; however some grateful residents were reminded to close garage doors.

Blue Armor Patrol Summary
Security officers continued random daily patrols of FSR -- monitoring traffic, raising awareness to property vulnerabilities, and patrolling the park on foot.

Officers monitored traffic flow at the conclusion of the FSR Torpedo Swim Team's final home meet, 16 June. This was in response to a neighbor's valid concern that the rush of traffic associated with about 200 swimmers presented a hazard.

SAPD Responses
Police responded to 18 calls for service to FSR during June compared to 13 calls during June last year. The monthly average for 2008 was 14 responses. The above average responses reflect the vehicle burglaries, with at least five reported to SAPD. Incidentally, another resident reported a vehicle break-in while parked at an apartment complex on Babcock Rd.

Also recorded by SAPD during June were two minor accidents, one on Burnwood and another at Finesilver and Braun Rds, plus the gate hit & run. There were six alarm calls, one call marked "miscellaneous," and a mistaken 911 call.

Finally, a suspicious vehicle on Cove Creek prompted a call to police. At about 11:30 pm, Saturday, 25 June, a teen aged male was approached by an adult male driving a dark colored SUV who offered a ride. SAPD took a report and the Safety Committee later reviewed gate video, to no avail.

SAPD logged four calls to the Greenbriar neighborhood near Nichols ES. Residents there reported a home burglary and an unrelated vehicle burglary occurring on 15 and 25 June respectively. There were also a disturbance and a suspicious vehicle.

Greenbriar, with about 1/4 the number of homes of Finesilver Ranch is the closest gated community and, presumably, has similar demographics for crime reporting comparison purposes.

Sex Offender Watch
No registered sex offenders live in Finesilver Ranch as of this post.

SAFD Responses
There were no fire/ EMS calls to FSR.

Follow FSRsafety on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FSRsafety
The Safety Committee joined the social networking scene on Twitter, an Internet application that offers a text messaging broadcast capability. Residents may now receive time sensitive announcements of neighborhood safety and crime prevention concerns via text message.

These "microblog" messages are also remotely posted to fsrsafety.blogspot.com providing on-the-spot reporting and highlighting announcements which do not warrant more complete narratives. Twitter users may follow FSRsafety updates by clicking the link on the right panel of the Safety Committee blog.

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