​ Commissioner Hal Valeche

Your county government is strongly committed to public safety.  The Board of County Commissioners provides the budget for operating the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, which has 16 district offices throughout the county, serving the unincorporated areas as well as some municipalities.  PBSO serves the North County area through its District 3 office on Jog Road.  The commander of District 3 is Capt. Pete Palenzuela (561) 688-4900.

Recently, I participated in a neighborhood meeting where Capt. Palenzuela, along with community policing deputies and detectives informed residents on how they can best protect themselves from what has become a frequent problem of late: vehicle burglaries and general theft.

Deputy Sherry Baker serves as a crime prevention coordinator who works closely with neighborhoods to recommend measures to lessen your vulnerability to crime.  She can assist communities to post signs prohibiting solicitation and trespass, and can help you organize a neighborhood crime watch.  Crime statistics are available to crime watch groups.  If you are in an HOA or have a neighborhood organization, invite PBSO to attend an upcoming meeting to help educate residents.

Here are other tips to consider:

• Crime upticks when solicitation increases; report violators to PBSO
• If you must park your vehicle outside, do not leave valuables in the vehicle.  This includes cellphones, sunglasses, wallets, additional keys, and garage door openers.  During the holiday season, do not leave your shopping purchases in the vehicle.
• Never store a firearm in your car; this creates a liability for you.
• PBSO encourages installing a doorbell system with cameras, like the Ring system or wireless cameras from companies like those produced by Lorex Technologies.  PBSO can use the stored video from your system to help them investigate and prosecute perpetrators. 
• If your property is not fenced, consider installing a perimeter fence.
• Install motion detector spot lights
• Contact Florida Power & Light (FPL.com/newstreetlights) to learn about their street lighting program.  They offer:
• Options for public and private streets to increase visibility from dusk to dawn
• Installation of street light fixtures on FPL poles
• Special poles and lighting fixtures for locations served by underground FPL facilities

After they install the lights, FPL will own and maintain the lighting system and simply charge you monthly for maintenance and electric service.

Unfortunately, gone are the days when people seldom locked their homes, much less their car doors, but we live in a different age.  However, working together with law enforcement and being a good neighbor can help safeguard our homes and property.  Further, making an investment in security measures now can save us money and heartache in the future.

If you see suspicious activity on your property or a neighbor's, please do not hesitate to contact law enforcement, or at the very least, talk with your neighbors.  As the Sheriff says, "If you see something, say something."  For non-emergency matters call (561) 688-3400; otherwise, call 911.
As always, please contact me if I can be of assistance to you at (561) 355-2201, or by email at hvaleche@pbcgov.org.