CRIME DIPS AT APARTMENTS WITH LACEY POLICE TRAINING

National Night Out Spotlights South Sound Program; How They Compare

Complexes Participating In Program Call 911 For Assistance Less
Often, Officers Say

Christian Hill

THE OLYMPIAN- Lacey police service calls to apartment
complexes that have completed the multihousing crime reduction program
are compared with those that don't participate.

Officials calculated the numbers by dividing the total number of
apartment units in a complex in a given year by the total number of
911 calls for police assistance to those units. The benchmark is one
911 call for police assistance per unit annually.

Participating complexes

Eighteen apartment complexes have completed Lacey's three-phase
multihousing crime reduction program, which educates managers on ways
they and tenants can reduce crime in apartment complexes.

They are: Brittany Lane, Capitol City on the Course, Carpenter Crest,
Cedar Park, Chambers Crest, College Glen, College Pointe, Emerald
Pointe, Firwood Grove, Lacey Grove, Lacey Park, Larson, Nisqually
Ridge, Shadow Wood, South Sound Villa, Surrey Lane, Williams Court
Townhomes and Windrush.

On the Web

National Night Out: www.nationaltownwatch.org/nno/

LACEY -- Shelly Herington recalled a time when tenants of a
neighboring apartment complex threw beer bottles and drug needles over
a fence into her complex. That was before Surrey Lane Apartments
signed onto the multihousing crime reduction program, built a
playground and opened a neighborhood child care center.

That was before Garden Terrace reopened next door as Williams Court
Townhomes.

Current managers of both apartment communities along Ruddell Road said
the program and the associated relationship with the Lacey Police
Department have aided the resurrection.

"It used to be really bad," said Herington, a Surrey Lane resident for
more than seven years. "It is much better."

Managers again reinforced to residents that crime isn't welcome on
their doormats in the midst of free ice cream and food Tuesday night
during National Night Out, an event intended to strengthen community
bonds to help stamp out crime and drug use.

Lacey police officers visited the participating apartment complexes,
handing out safety information and fingerprinting children.

Michele Marshall, Surrey Lane's manager, said the event is a fun way
for her to show her tenants that she's serious about keeping them safe.

"We don't talk the talk; we walk the walk. We actually do," she
said.

Other apartment complexes participated in the national event in Lacey
- -- and many see dividends in their full participation in the
multihousing program, according to police statistics.

Complexes fully invested in the three-phase program have had fewer
9-1-1 calls for officer assistance on average than those that don't
participate, according to the figures.

More than half of the apartment complexes in Lacey are involved to
some degree in the program, a joint project of the cities of Lacey and
Olympia.

Olympia police officers visited apartment complexes in their city and
had a community event in Sylvester Park.

The three phases of the program are:

- -Complete a 12-hour manager training course.

- -Meet design standards around the complex to reduce crime, including
deadbolts, peepholes on front doors, secondary locks on ground-floor
windows and adequate lighting.

- -Establish routine crime prevention meetings for tenants.

A metal sign indicating the complex has completed the program welcomes
prospective tenants.

Despite the efforts, crime hasn't vanished from apartment complexes in
Lacey.

Apartment complexes are frequent targets of car prowlers, Lacey Crime
Prevention Officer Alexandra Kasuske said. Residents can avoid
becoming victims of theft by keeping their vehicles empty of
valuables, including purses, CDs and loose cash.

"The way you drove it off the lot is the way it should stay," she
said.

Angelena Franklin, a Williams Court resident, said she appreciates her
managers' participation in the program.

One of them knocked on her door and returned a purse she'd left in her
car with a window rolled down.

"They're very friendly and caring," she said. "It makes a
difference."

In turn, tenants have taken an active role by noting the goings-on
within the 48-unit apartment complex, said Frank Petracek, co-manager
of Williams Court along with his wife, Angelica.

"There's very little that happens where someone doesn't call and say,
'This is going on,' " he said.