City creates business watch program to help victims of commerical burglaries
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com
To help crack down on a string of commercial and retail business burglaries, the Thousand Oaks Crime Prevention Task Force has formed a new business watch program.

Through the program, business owners can learn about resources available through the police department, including how to best protect themselves from theft. They will also receive notification of crimes occurring in their area.

“We’re definitely making strides in the right direction,” said Dave Tuttle, president of Conejo Complete Landscape in Westlake Village and a task force member.

Tuttle’s business was the target of crimes three times last fall.

Over the past year, local businesses have been robbed of thousands of dollars worth of equipment such as lawn mowers, leaf blowers, chain saws and soil compaction equipment. Several firms have been hit more than three times over a period of just a few weeks.

Business owners have spent thousands of dollars replacing stolen equipment as well as installing elaborate security measures.

The burglaries represent a widespread problem throughout the western United States that many in law enforcement interpret as organized crime. In the past few weeks there have been about five new incidents of burglary among area businesses, according to Senior Dep. Larry Logan of the T.O. Police Department.

Part of the problem, Logan said, is that the storage containers and construction yards that are being hit are difficult to secure. The thefts often occur when no one is around to see or hear the burglars.

“We are working side-by-side with the investigation department,” Logan said. “We want to prevent these crimes by bolstering security through programs like the business watch program.” Although he’s satisfied that police are doing everything they can with the resources they have to apprehend the perpetrators, Tuttle believes that additional officers may be needed to provide full coverage to the entire county. He said the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Bob Brooks need to reassess the number of officers needed to fully patrol the area.

“Our communities and population have grown. The data they use to ascertain how many officers are needed must be updated,” said Tuttle. Response time by officers in some areas of the county, he said, can be as long as an hour.

Although no local arrests have been made since the task force was formed by Councilmember Jacqui Irwin in January, she has confidence in the efforts being made.

“We have a very good group of people interested in solving this problem,” Irwin said. “We are working closely with the police to provide a safe environment for businesses to operate in.” Business owners can register for the business watch program online at www.toaks.org/city_hall/depts/ police/bw. For more information, call (805) 494-8267.