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Partee coordinates neighborhood security, urges vigilance
(by Jeff Fister - May 27, 2009)
There’s a new sheriff in town — James Partee, director of the Neighborhood Security Initiative, part of the Central West End Association.
Partee has actually been on the job since last fall, and he’s been busy.
Partee, who was formerly chief of police for the Moscow Mills police department, has been charged with coordinating the multitude of police and security forces that patrol the CWE.
In addition to the St. Louis Police Department, the Barnes medical complex and St. Louis University have their own security. Several neighborhoods have set up special taxing districts that hire private companies like Hi-Tech and the City’s Finest to provide “supplemental patrols.” From patrol cars to bicycle police to walking “beat” police and the mounted patrol in Forest Park, there are many pieces in the puzzle.
Partee was hired to help coordinate all of this, providing analysis and running the community education programs like his monthly security forums held at Schlafly Library.
His first task? Putting together a master schedule of all the different security efforts in the neighborhood. “That really hadn’t been done before,” Partee said. “It’s a way to get a handle on all the different groups and begin to communicate with them.”
Partee has had a varied career in law enforcement, which has helped him in his new position. He’s a veteran of the Navy, and has worked in the city of St. Louis, St. Peters, in the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and most recently as police chief in Moscow Mills.
“Having my background, especially as a police chief, gives me a good rapport with the various groups,” Partee said.
Since starting, Partee has also organized a committee to work on installing neighborhood video cameras and is working with the St. Louis University geography department to improve “real-time” crime mapping efforts.
Partee said that while all of these efforts can help reduce crime, one of his most important jobs is making residents more vigilant. He said that while overall there has been a decrease in crime in the area in the past few years, there has been a rise in home burglaries.
“With the economy being down, criminals are getting more desperate,” he said. “They’re getting bolder about daytime break-ins and doing more planning, rather than just random burglaries.”
Having lived in this area nearly 20 years, but also having lived in suburban communities here and in other cities, I know that crime can happen anywhere, it’s not just the city. Luckily we’ve never experienced anything more serious than a garage break-in, but I have one family member who lives in a nice suburb who’s had two home break-ins.
Still, it is the city and you have to be careful and “aware of your surroundings.” When I first moved here from St. Louis county, my neighbor — who was in his 60s and bragged “I’ve never lived west of Union Boulevard” — sat me down one day when he saw a new bicycle sitting unlocked on our front porch. He proceeded to list a number of things we needed to do — and never leave anything of value on your porch. “It’s just an invitation to ‘walk away.’”
Partee has a list of things to help stop burglaries. Nine out of 10 burglaries are preventable, he said, according to statistics. There are more than 5 million home burglaries a year in the U.S., and they tend to be seasonal; criminal activity heats up as the temperature rises in spring and summer.
Here are some tips:
Make sure that exterior lights are mounted out of reach.
Consider purchasing motion-sensitive lights or using a variable light timer.
Trim trees and shrubs near doors and windows so burglars can’t hide in the shadows.
Make it time consuming for a burglar to break into your home by:
• Installing deadbolt locks on all exterior doors.
• Installing double key locks in doors that contain glass.
• Installing additional locks on all windows and patio doors.
• Consider dogs and alarm systems as noise deterrents.
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