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Coral Bay Gets 2 Police Officers and Security Tips

Sept. 13, 2004 –– The V.I. Police Department has assigned two uniformed officers and a police car to patrol the Coral Bay area, according to Kenneth "Blakie" Blake, who directs the department's crime prevention activities.
Blake told the nearly 20 members of the Coral Bay Community Council gathered Monday at the John's Folly Learning Institute that officers Alvin Wesselhoft and Lorraine Sprauve have been permanently assigned to Coral Bay.
Blake said they've been assigned to Coral Bay for one-and-a-half weeks, but vehicle problems prevented them from going on patrol. He said he expects to have those problems solved by Tuesday.
They will work 2 to 10 p.m., the hours Blake said saw the most crime. They will be on patrol Tuesday through Saturday.
Wesselhoft is a Coral Bay resident. Sprauve lives in Cruz Bay. Blake said their status as St. John residents was a plus because St. Thomas police officers tend to rotate back to St. Thomas rather quickly.
"Anytime anybody tries to remove them, I'll fight for them," Blake said.
The Community Council members had asked Blake to discuss how to form a neighborhood watch committee to help combat increasing crime in the Coral Bay area.
"I'm going to teach you how to be nosey neighbors," Blake promised.
The Community Council members plan to form neighborhood groups. Police officers will meet separately with those groups to help them organize.
Community Council member Alvis Christian said that the Coral Bay area currently has an influx of people who come every day to work on the numerous houses under construction in the area.
Christian suggested some of the workers could be "coming in and casing the area."
Blake also blamed the recent crime problems on undocumented construction workers hired at what he claimed were low wages. He told the Community Council members that hiring such workers to save money costs them more in the long run.
Blake told the members to mark their valuables with their Social Security numbers, but Robin Gallup noted that revealing your Social Security member could lead to identity theft.
"I was told to use my phone number," Gallup said.
Blake nixed that idea, claiming that the thieves wouldn't recognize a Social Security number as such.
He said it was up to Coral Bay businesses to install security cameras in their areas to deter crime.
Blake said members need to name their streets and develop a map to give to the Police Department. Community Council president Sharon Coldren said the organization was working on that.
Blake can be reached at 776-1525.

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