Traffic and Safety – Lock it or Lose it!

Mariner’s Gate:  If you normally enter or leave the community a the Mariner’s Gate, you would do well to bypass it and enter at either the Selva or Cabrillo entrances. Taking this detour, especially during busy hours, will help you avoid frustrating delays and minimize the congestion during the construction phase of our new guard house. It should be over in early November. Of course if you only have a temporary pass for your car, continue using the Mariner’s entrance and our friendly security personnel will continue to assist you, but it may well be slower than usual.

Security: Lock it or Lose it! We experienced at least one theft from an unlocked parked car in the past two months. The thieves got away with a wallet and a relatively small amount of cash. Personnel from our Dana Point Sheriff’s office have for years encouraged residents and all who park in Dana Point to lock their vehicles in order to prevent thefts in general. This program “Lock it or Lose it” has proven to be most successful and thefts from motor vehicles have declined significantly. It seems that folks inclined to steal from parked cars no longer want to take the chance of breaking into a locked vehicle as arrest is more likely and they may be charged with a felony crime which could result in parole or probation violations or even a state prison sentence. Recently, several guests to our community were observed apparently trying to open vehicle doors by the handles. It appears that all the doors were locked as they did not get in. We can only speculate as to what their motive was, as just jiggling a door handle is not a crime. The good news is that many of our neighbors were alert and had their cars locked in such a manner as to preclude them from becoming victims.

Call the Police: If you become the victim of a crime or think you maybe witnessing criminal activity call 911. There will be an overall faster response from our deputy personnel and they will come armed with first-hand information that a trained police dispatcher has solicited. We are not putting them out as they appreciate the opportunity to respond to and handle emergency situations that they have prepared for years to handle.

Too many times folks have phoned our security to report emergency or suspected crimes in progress and our security personnel have had to in turn place the call to 911 and provide only second hand information.

—Tim Murphy