Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Security policies and security infrastructure forparking lots or entire sites

[Wayne Tyson (landrest]

This practice can put children at risk, even where it is the custom. The 
fact that "it works" is case-specific. It is also child labor at slave 
wages. I agree that it is far out. I also know that the case cited was a 
momentary impulse and not intended to exploit--nay, the actual motive was 
probably to help and a kindness, but is any business transaction truly a 
kindness? Another not-so-far-out idea might be to hire an adult or two (one 
to watch and another to run in and notify you, call the police, or get 
information about the perpetrators, or, better yet, a security service 
(granted, this is not always practical). One can still feed the kids who 
otherwise might have performed the service. What makes sense depends upon 
the totality of the circumstances, including local law and one's own moral 
compass. Just a thought about thinking out all (or more) of the potential 
consequences . . .

WT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lisa Strayer" <strayerla [at] gmail.com>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 6:24 AM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Security policies and security infrastructure forparking 
lots or entire sites


> This is just a far out half baked idea...  When we travelled in south 
> America, we always hired local kids to watch out car when we went in to 
> eat, and then brought them food in addition to small "wages" of ten cents 
> or so for watching the car... Sometimes one kid watched a wheel, another 
> the rearview mirror when there were too many kids around...  This worked 
> and was the customary approach.  I know that it is not directly 
> transferrable to your situation, but so meting along the lines of getting 
> the local kids outside of your immunity involved in having a stake in none 
> of your cars losing stuff might help.  As I said, a bit of a far out 
> idea...
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Jan 13, 2011, at 10:37 AM, Kristin Dunkle <kdunkle [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm writing seeking the voice of experience from other cohousing
> > communities that may have experienced targeted property crime.
> >
> > I live at East Lake Commons near Atlanta, Georgia. We were established
> > in 1998, I've been here since 2004. We are a 67 unit ( which I think
> > still makes us the largest in the US) cohousing community, located in
> > what some consider a pretty rough part of town. Our entire campus is
> > fenced and has an entry gate*.
> >
> > We've recently experienced a rash of nighttime cash break-ins in the
> > parking lot -- nearly 30 in the past month, usually with at least 5
> > cars per night hit on nights when it happens. We've taken a range of
> > unsustainable crisis management steps including doing community member
> > patrols and hiring overnight guards, and we've also been making
> > coordinated reports to local police and having a volunteer liaison
> > meet with detectives and make sure the case reports are linked, etc.
> > And the plain fact of the matter is that we live in an
> > "unincorporated" zone, not attached to any municipality, and our low
> > local and property taxes mean that we get what we pay for in terms of
> > policing. The police have been as helpful as they can, but they are
> > severely overstretched and clear that murders, assaults, etc take
> > priority. We have some reason to suspect that the perpetrators are
> > drug addicts and/or youth gangs.
> >
> > We're moving from crisis management to trying to think systematically
> > about short, medium, and long-term security management plans and
> > having fruitful ideological and practical debates about strategies
> > covering a vast range of options including better lighting, higher
> > fences, security cameras, do-it-yourself detective work, better
> > community outreach, etc etc etc. Our last crime wave 5 years ago
> > involved an armed hold up and an attempted carjacking at the site
> > entrance (both youth perpetrated), and it was solved through highly
> > visible community patrolling. That hasn't worked this time, so we're
> > experiencing increasing frustration.
> >
> > We are wondering if anyone out there can share your experience,
> > policies, and/or details about your site infrastructure in terms of
> > managing parking lot or whole site security in an economically diverse
> > urban setting like this. What have you tried? How has it worked or not
> > worked? What has the impact been on relationships within your
> > community and between your community and your neighborhood?
> >
> > I am personally most interested in solutions that don't involve higher
> > walls, bigger barricades or security cameras, but I will faithfully
> > report back to our Security Task Group on whatever anyone has to share
> > about their experiences.
> >
> > With gratitude,
> >
> > Kristin Dunkle
> > East Lake Commons Cohousing, Atlanta, Georgia
> >
> >
> >
> > * The gate has been a source of serious contention over the years as
> > it was added by the developer during construction without community
> > consensus, but we've never been able to consent on removing it. It's
> > one of our on-going hot-button issues.
> > _________________________________________________________________
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> _________________________________________________________________
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