Town Watch Volunteer Provides Tips for Safety

To The Editor:
I am a volunteer in the Town Watch/Town Pride (TWTP) Organization in Sea Isle City.
TWTP is an active organization focused on several fronts, and we actively participate in surveillance during the off-season from November through February. Our group activities are approved by the chief of police and with the full knowledge of Mayor Leonard Desiderio and our city council; in fact several councilmen are active volunteers. It should be noted that we approached Chief D’Intino, and city council three years ago and asked to perform this surveillance activity with city approval. We felt these actions would contribute to esprit de corps in our city.
TWTP volunteers are joggers, bikers, walkers and each evening we have volunteers that drive our streets and look for any thing that doesn’t seem normal. Our police department has advised us, that if we observe anything strange, we simply call our police dispatcher. Furthermore the dispatcher has documentation in front of him/her stating which (TWTP) volunteer is on patrol that evening. Over the past three years we have observed and reported things such as broken water pipes, unlocked doors and windows blown open, due to high winds and blown transformers causing sparks on telephone poles. I am pleased to say that we live in a safe community.
Recently articles were written about flat screens being ripped off in Sea Isle City. Our police department said that the absence of dead bolts on each door could have been the culprit. TWTP agrees. Each time we have a chance to grab the attention of the public, we along with our police department, ask owners to light porch lights during the evening. Whether we are part- time residents or full time residents we breech our own security in many cases. When you leaving home, always lock the door and use the dead bolt. It’s not a Sea Isle safety issue it’s an anywhere you live issue. Good habits help.
For example: An owner ends the season, packs his bags, locks the door and drives home to Philadelphia. This owner has a $1,500 deductible homeowners insurance policy. Questions to consider:
1. Did he have a dead bolt installed.
2. Did he have outside lights on a timer? Did he know that if he activates a 100 watt energy efficient bulb, that is on a timer and set to on/off between the hours of 7 p.m. to midnight, seven days a week, the cost is .25 cents per month. Atlantic City Electric provided the monthly estimated costs.
3. By the way, driving and looking at houses and between houses is very difficult for the police.
So back to my scenario. The owner returns from Philadelphia expressly to watch March Madness basketball on his $2,500 flat screen TV. When he gets to the summer house the TV is missing!!. So weigh the difference between the cost of a 100 watt bulb, a timer and a deadbolt installed in you front door Vs the costs of a replacement TV at about $2,500 because your deductible is $1,500.
Listen, we are not saying a burglary would not happen -we are saying that lights discourage burglaries. If there are two houses side by side, we believe the house in the dark carries a higher likelihood of being burglarized. We hope you consider installing a dead bolt and light your front and side doors each evening from 7-12 p.m.
CARL LINGESSO
Sea Isle City