Residents take aim at reducing crime rate

The recent attempted burglary in the Crosby area was the last straw for the neighbors of the Seabeck community.

“Its very intrusive and makes you feel violated,” said the victim, who refrained from giving his name. “I’d like to get a neighborhood watch started and displace them from this area,” he said.

On Thursday a group of 30 to 40 people attended a community meeting to discuss the ongoing problem of theft and drug use in the Seabeck community, mainly the Crosby area. The group talked of starting up a neighborhood crime watch, though many in attendance were concerned about the fact that they can’t see several of their neighbors. But guest speaker Sgt. Randy Drake of the Washington State Patrol, who has been assigned with the West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team or WestNET for the last six years, explained the importance of becoming involved in the community and becoming aware of what’s going on in the area.

“(The neighborhood watch program) will work out here because you will wear (the criminals) out and they will choose the path of least resistance,” Drake said.

Drake described the main precautions that the community needs to take in order for the neighborhood watch to be successful. He focused on the importance of becoming involved and urged everyone to file a report and have a deputy come out if they find anything missing. They need to be sure to report it so there is actual record of what’s been occurring. He told them they need to be specific and timely.

“It’s valuable to the community to get people closer together by talking,” said Sheriff Steve Boyer, who also spoke at the meeting. “Kitsap County is one of the lowest staffed areas (in terms of deputies). We’re making a lot of progress, but what will help us even more is a neighborhood community watch.”

Drake discussed the possibility of Deputy Pete Ball of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office conducting a future meeting with community members. Ball would help the community implement a neighborhood watch program.

“You’re going to have to come together as a community,” Drake said. “It’s going to take a team effort.”

In other news: Prior to the beginning of the community neighborhood watch meeting, the members of the Crosby Community Club conducted their regular meeting. They reported a total profit of more than $3,300 brought in during Crosby Days. They also voted on installing a new roof on the community center which passed almost unanimously. The old roof will be replaced with a dark green, galvanized metal roof. A volunteer work party will soon get started on ripping the old shingles off.

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