Wrightsville Beach Police Chief Dan House answered questions from six citizens who attended Chat with the Chief Thursday, Oct. 16, at Wrightsville Beach Town Hall.
House first reviewed the crime statistics for recent months, showing citizens the total number of crimes was slightly higher than this time last year.
He specifically called attention to a recurring instance of fraud, in which residents received a phone call telling them they owed taxes to the state or county.
“If you get a telephone call saying you owe taxes, go straight to the horse’s mouth and make sure,” House warned.
House also outlined crime prevention, telling citizens two of the biggest problems officers faced were larceny and break-ins. To reduce automobile break-ins, he encouraged residents to lock car doors, roll windows up and keep valuables in the trunk.
To keep criminals from breaking into houses, House suggested homeowners plant thorny bushes below points of entry and install motion sensor lights. He also said keeping large foliage trimmed back would give officers better visibility when patrolling neighborhoods.
House shared the results of a survey recently sent out to town citizens, addressing community concerns and questions. He said he received 112 completed surveys, which was a much higher response than anticipated.
The main issues of concern were noise from bars, pedestrian and biker safety, and gang or drug activity.
House said addressing the gang and drug activity was a top priority for his officers during the beginning of summer. The bar managers were very cooperative in the effort, House said, and they have not seen any gang activity recently.
House made another plea to residents to help catch the person responsible for the graffiti tags painted on the vacant Food Mart and other structures around town.
“We have tried just about anything we can think to do — surveillance operations, undercover — and we just haven’t caught him. So please, if you see something, give us a call,” he said.
The department was still addressing issues with the surveillance camera project, he added. He described it as an ongoing process of figuring out which types of cameras to use in which locations to be the most effective.
To improve pedestrian and biker safety, House said his department was working on a program called the Watch For Me Campaign. As part of the campaign, officials placed sandwich boards near crosswalks to draw the attention of motorists. The town is also offering bike lights to cyclists to increase their visibility when riding at night.
House said he was pleasantly surprised to learn, based on the survey, that 78 percent of residents felt comfortable walking outside any time of the day or night.
email [email protected]
