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Security
The security committee now has their
own new Association,
Asociación Pro Seguridad del Residencial Surfside
and has a new security program! We have offered a page on the
Surfside Residents Association for the new Association to post
notices.
This is the information we have received from
Asociación Pro Seguridad del Residencial Surfside:
Security
1. Security Services: Strategic Security Services is now providing
security to Surfside with night patrols from 9 PM to 5AM. The
patrolman is trained, licensed and armed in compliance with private
security service law. The patrolman actively monitors the homes of
clients several times each night, will approach and detain
suspicious persons, and is in contact with a dispatcher and the
local police. The movements of the patrolman are recorded
electronically. This service is not intended to replace homeowner
vigilance, but to augment that responsibility and to monitor
community activity.
2. Membership: Security participation is separate from Surfside
Homeowners Association membership. Cost for coverage is $30 per
month. To join the program, contact Don Paul by email for an account
number and bank information. His email is
prozesky@racsa.co.cr . The
success of this program and our increased safety depend on
participation by people in the community.
3. Phone numbers: Patricia 8859 9560 – Patricia speaks English and
is in contact with the patrolman.
Patrol car 8859 4961 In case of a problem, provide the patrolman
with your lot number. Non-members who call the patrolman will have
the situation relayed to the local police.
Donald Sequeira managing director 8335 3033
4. Activity report and updates; This will be a form to be filled in
as information becomes available or relevant.
5. Surfside Security Association: This is an incorporated entity
formed to oversee security in Surfside. To contact the association,
call Dick Pease at 8759 7127, or email at
peggy@surfsideassociation.com
or
dick@surfsideassociation.com . Suggestions and constructive
criticism are always welcome.
6. Goals: The primary goal is to continue the presence of a
patrolman as a deterrent to opportunistic crime. The next step will
be to add a second night patrolman for more effective coverage.
Other improvements will be the installation of cameras at strategic
locations to be monitored by the dispatcher, and the addition of a
daytime patrolman. All of these depend on increased numbers of
participating residents.
Click Here for the
Security Forum
__________________________________________________________
50 Security
Pointers from:

DON’T BE A VICTIM
Click
here to download word
document
Consider these 50 simple security ideas
courtesy of Force One Security:
1. Survey the street and parking lot when walking from a restaurant
or business to your car to search for loiterers.
2. Use your car alarm or horn panic button, sound the alarm when you
are walking out to your car to draw attention to yourself. No thief
is going to rob or attack you if the whole parking lot is looking at
you.
3. When leaving an establishment, look for persons of suspicious
nature and do something as simple as waiting on the person to leave,
or ask someone to assist you to your car.
4. Don’t leave an ATM machine with money in your hand; instead have
Mace, pepper spray or a Taser.
5. Use your camera, camcorder or cell phone to take pictures of
cars, license plates, loiterers and suspicious persons outside your
home. Let them see you take their pictures and return to your home.
6. When you leave the ATM machine make sure no one follows you home.
7. Don’t advertise on Facebook you are going on a two week vacation.
8. Don’t have a taxi pick you up in front of your home, walk down
the street to a different house or empty lot so the taxi driver does
not know where you live.
9. Taxi drivers buy stolen goods from the local thieves. When the
taxi drivers know your house is empty, they dispatch the thieves,
pick up the thieves and purchase your personal effects from them.
10. Don’t throw away your old computer, cell phone or camera; leave
them out in the living room as decoys.
11. Don’t leave your front porch light on 24/7, that is an old trick
and it advertises that no one is home.
12. Don’t throw your plasma TV or new microwave box out at the
street, cut it up or burn it.
13. Don’t invite contractors, vendors and service providers in your
home unless absolutely necessary. Leave them outside your front
door.
14. Never allow an unknown driver of a car to call you to his car on
the pretense of directions. Stay 10’ or 15’ away or ignore them
completely.
15. Don’t pick up hitchhikers, or if you do, be prepared to defend
yourself against robbery, threats or false accusations.
16. Contractors and their employees steal, it is that simple. Start
a simple visitor log book at your front door and force all
contractors and their employees to produce their name, Cedula and
phone number. Inform them it is for your home security purposes, you
make the entries in the log, you verify the information. Write down
the information and date it. In the event you are robbed or
burglarized, you will very likely have the contact information for
your thief.
17. When contractors are left unsupervised anywhere in your home or
business, upon their departure inspect all of your security
measures. Make sure your locks are secured, your burglar bars are
bolted in place, and your alarm system contacts have not been
removed. Look for signs of tampering behind contractors, better safe
than sorry.
18. Bolt your safe through the slab or wall and don’t use short
concrete anchors, the thieves will tear the safe out of the floor or
wall.
19. Thieves expect upstairs doors and windows to be open and
unlocked, lock them.
20. Chain and lock your ladder so it cannot be used to burglarize
your own home.
21. Sleep with your keys beside your bed, not somewhere in your
kitchen or living room.
22. An extended swimming pool pole gives a thief a 15’ long reach
into your house to hook your keys, your camera, your purse, your
jewelry or anything laying around 15’ from a window.
23. A loud TV left on in the house creates question in a thief’s
mind, and is a very good deterrent.
24. Thieves hate loud dogs and nosey neighbors.
25. Close your blinds and curtains (especially at night), thieves
will study the contents of your home and your living pattern, then
they will enter your home while you are home and even while you are
awake.
26. Be very suspicious of someone randomly knocking on your door
looking for someone you have never heard of, he or she is almost
certainly checking to see if you are home intending to burglarize
your home.
27. Wasp spray that shoots a stream 15’ to 20’ and is almost as good
as Mace when you hit a person in the face with this product. Scatter
cans of wasp spray around your house for personal protection.
28. If you hear a suspicious noise in your yard or property, push
your car alarm panic button.
29. Never try to sneak up on a thief, do everything possible to
scare him and drive him away.
30. Keep your wallet in your front pocket.
31. Wear your purse over your head and under your arm keeping it in
front of you when possible.
32. Never leave valuables in your car.
33. If you experience a flat tire, remove your spare tire and tools
from your car, reload and lock your car while you change your tire.
Be careful not to be distracted by someone offering to help while
simultaneously being robbed by his or her companion. This is a
common roadside trick practiced by both genders.
34. Standing at roadside with a suitcase, purse and camera is an
invitation to a robber.
35. Be careful, your beautiful landscaping, plants and bushes
provide nice hiding places for burglars.
36. Always park in well lit, high profile areas or search for
alternatives.
37. If your cell phone has audio recording, consider discretely
activating it to record conversations with roadside police.
38. Don’t install your new flat screen TV in eye sight of the street
unless you wish to lose it.
39. Take pictures or video in every room of your house, your closet,
your drawers, clothes, etc. Upload these pictures to your email or
send them to a friend for safe keeping to serve as an inventory of
your home.
40. When you go home tonight, take every credit card, every photo ID
and other important contents of your wallet/purse, place them side
by side on your photo copier and copy them front side and backside.
File these photo copies in case you are robbed or lose them.
41. Solar and motion activated yard lighting will drive a great deal
of burglars away.
42. Purchase 4-5 simple plug-in timers that can be used to turn on
and off the TV and certain lights.
43. Even the simplest security sign suggests your home might not be
an easy target.
44. Thieves can afford to be well groomed and dress nice and can
easily sport a briefcase or clipboard in an effort to gain your
confidence.
45. Leaving your items unattended at even 10’ or 15’ can invite a
fleet footed robber’s attention.
46. Place your purse or valuables on the floorboard of your car,
under your legs or under your seat when driving and lock your doors.
Windows are easily shattered and the surprise provides the street
criminal the 2-3 second advantage he needs to snatch and run with
your valuables. It happens before you know it.
47. Never leave anything of value lying around your house when you
have caretakers, vendors and contractors in your home.
48. Never carry your Passport, only a photo copy and a copy of the
date stamp. Lock away your Passport.
49. Never leave your home without watching your automatic garage
door or gate close completely.
50. Never leave notes on your door for neighbors or service
providers, it’s a sure indication you are not home.

Personal Emergency
Instructions

You can email us with your personal instructions for you and your
family in case of an emergency. You may want to include
contact information for family in other countries or here in Costa
Rica. We will provide this service for members and non-members
and for temporary visitors.

From the Past President, Sherri Bidwell
You are welcome to visit my personal website at
http://www.surfsidepotrero.net
It is my personal website I maintain for
the community
and is not associated in any way with this or any other association.
Thank you,
Sherrie Bidwell
Past President
Thank you to everyone for your memberships
in 2010!
We now have money in our reserve for emergencies
and was able to contribute to the mosquito fogging
for our area which helped significantly with the dengue situation!
Thank you!
Sherrie Bidwell, Past President