1b. Accept Donation from Chanhassen Lions Club-Public SafetyCITY OF 16
CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317
(612) 937 -1900 • FAX (612) 937 -5739
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MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and City Council
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Don Ashworth, City Manager
FROM: Scott Harr, Public Safety Director
DATE: June 27, 1994
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SUBJ: Crime Prevention Van
I am very excited to report to you that the Charhass
City to purchase a Crime Prevention Van. While th
I have been working on the concept for some time
J
BACKGROUND
Action by City Administrator
Endorse
Modifie
Ilelecte —
t
00 Submitted to Commission
DW Subm'dted to W14
Lions Club has donated $20,000.00 to the
ipportunity presented itself rather quickly,
Particularly for a community that '`s as young and rapidly growing as Chanhassen, crime
prevention plays a very important "role. Simply put, once a community becomes too large, crime
prevention efforts become more reactive to criminal activity, rather than being proactive in the
sense of helping the,.comrr►unity develop crime prevention strategies while becoming educated
in a way so as to effectively p"reveiittnthe.t0gethe'rvM, 1h6,' ce. Now is the time for the City
of Chanhassen to develop crime; trntion. ..w ....,....
You may not be aware of "the faex that there was an attempt to establish. a ; more organized crime
prevention program here in 1987. A former',(
prevention and was given the opportunit,
Unfortunately, it did not occur. The Deputy
assigned to Carver County's D.A.R.E. progn
tnty Service officer had an interest in crime
levote time to establishing the program.
as done crime prevention in the past is now
a full -time basis.
As animal control and various other Community Service Officer activities have continued to take
more and more time, crime prevention in Chanhassen has basically only been done on a
"requested" basis when a resident or business would call for such things as a neighborhood watch
presentation, a classroom program, a personal safety lecture or a premise survey of a residence
�I
Memorandum to Mayor and City Council, City Manager
June 27, 1994
Page 2 ,
or business. We have unfortunately not even been able to always meet all of these requests as
I would have liked to.
Also, basic crime prevention delivery itself has changed significantly over the years.
Traditionally, crime prevention was provided to community groups at either neighborhood '
crimewatch gatherings or at community education meetings. But times have changed, and it has
become increasingly difficult to get people together (because of time conflicts of many dual -
employed couples, child raising commitments, etc.). Really, the only time we find ourselves able ,
to get neighborhoods together is when they have become victimized by numerous burglaries or
other crimes, which is arguably too late for really effective crime prevention.
ANALYSIS
Chanhassen presents a very exciting opportunity to provide effective crime prevention services
to the City. I really can't think of another city that does better at getting the community together
during such times as the February Festival, the Fourth of July events, Septemberfest, Public
Safety & Fire Department Open Houses, etc. People do get together as a community here for
these purposes, and if we can no longer get people to "come to us" for crime prevention
education, I am enthused about taking the crime prevention "story" on the road. Rather than
expecting the community to come to us, let's go to them! I see this as true customer service.
My vision is - this: we can create a crime prevention van, suitably marked with appropriate
graphics, which we can take to any neighborhood gathering, community event, tot lot program,
school program, block party or wherever people gather. The van itself would attract people, and
we would have the vehicle stocked with our crime prevention material to hand out at the site.
In effect, the van would be used as our own portable "crime prevention office" or display booth.
The benefits of this vehicle would be well worth the operating costs. This vehicle could also be
called into service in an emergency situation should additional vehicles be required, so it would '
serve a dual purpose (it would, in fact, become a component of our emergency management
plan).
RECOMMENDATION
It is the recommendation of the Public Safety Director that the generous donation of the ,
Chanhassen Lions be accepted by the City Council, and that the Public Safety Director be
directed to appropriately thank this group, as well as to have the vehicle marked to acknowledge
the fact that this vehicle was donated by. the Chanhassen Lions.
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