“Through [Facebook] private messages, [people] have been able to say, ‘this is what I’m seeing,’ and ask, ‘Can you come check this out?,'” explained CSI President/CEO Dennis Cook. The 35-year Bixby Knolls resident receives messages on his cell phone and responds right away and so does CSI Operations Manager Jason Richard.
Both serve as police officers for a city outside of Long Beach.
Cook fell in love with law enforcement while serving as a reserve officer in Long Beach and played semi-pro hockey with the Ontario Reign, the Kings minor league hockey team, while working at CSI’s Inland Empire office.
Cook and Richard both said they do not post any messages or posts that would otherwise put people in danger with their names or addresses, handling them very discretely.
Presently they are getting two to four requests a day on Facebook for requests and tips on what’s going on in the area.
Last week in North Long Beach on Atlantic Avenue, CSI received a call about a homeless person acting suspiciously in front of a store and were asked if they could send someone over.
“Not a problem,” Cook said. “My bikes were there in less than two minutes.”
When he asked the owner to follow up with the police department, the owner replied that she had already called them about 45 minutes ago. Cook said it probably wasn’t a high priority call for the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD), which had already been out handling a call of greater importance.
“Because we’re concentrating more in our area, we have a faster response time and are able to help out,” Cook said. “We don’t want people to ever think that we [CSI Patrol] are the police. We’re not. We’re just an extension of them. We help them out and they help us out.”
Richard stressed that citizens should first call the police and then secondarily contact CSI Patrol, which can be reached on Facebook as the CSI Patrol — Bixby Knolls Division, by phone at (562) 981-8988 or email at info@csipatrol.com . Daytime patrol schedule is from 8:30am to 6 pm, with randomly timed mountain bike patrols four hours a day, and night patrols for the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association (BKBIA) from 10pm to 5am, 11pm to 6am or midnight to 6am, on a varied schedule in the business district.
The BKBIA, led by Executive Director Blair Cohn, currently has approximately 800 businesses in its fold and organizes such monthly events and programs as First Fridays Long Beach, Strollers, Literary Society, Supper Club and Kidical Mass. The BKBIA also produces events and marketing opportunities such as cash mobs, Concerts in the Park(ing Lot), photo and poetry contests and block parties, according to its website at bixbyknollsinfo.com .
Cook went on to say that the partnership CSI has with the LBPD is “phenomenal,” explaining that Richard has acted as back up for police on traffic stops, helping to ensure officer safety, especially in instances where there are two people in a vehicle. Richard had also actually driven up on-scene for an armed robbery of a business he was visiting.
“Officer safety is a huge, volatile and a paramount issue now-a-days,” Cook said. “When they [the police] look back to see that I or one of our officers has pulled over helping them out, it gives them the sense that someone else is watching their back until another [patrol] car gets here. I want everyone to have that sense that we’re out here watching.”
For about four years, CSI has been working with the BKBIA and has been coordinating security for First Fridays Long Beach for the last three years. The company has been in business for 25 years.
Typical calls consist of concerns about the loitering homeless impeding patrons from entering businesses to suspicious people hanging out around businesses or residences. They also take pictures of graffiti to report to the police, as well as to the public services department, and even pick up mail for businesses and residences when people are away.
“I actually have photos from where I’ve arrived on scene of homeless people sitting right in front of [business] doorways,” Cook said. “Crime has actually slowed on the petty thefts here in Bixby Knolls because of the high impact that the security has taken.”
With the strong presence that Cook and his officers have had, including the regular bike patrols of Bixby Knolls and their use of one of two Segway motorized vehicles, he feels crime has been deterred. CSI also employs a fleet of 18 marked cars and two unmarked vehicles.
“With the Facebook page that Jason [Richard] created, we are getting a lot of positive feedback with people sharing private messages on what they are seeing,” Cook said.
For Bixby Knolls, CSI now has four or five security officers expanding their hours to the weekends, donating more time to the BKBIA to ensure safety, he said, adding that CSI currently donates about 80 to 100 extra man-hours a month to the community.
Cook also said that, despite some negative posts on Facebook about Bixby Knolls that may look bad in the eyes of those who want to live or do business here, the community is actually safe.
“We’re trying to put the fire out before it gets started,” Cook said, adding that he would never work, live or play anywhere else, calling Bixby Knolls “one of the best neighborhoods in Long Beach.”
“It absolutely has a hometown atmosphere where everyone is polite and talks to each other,” Cook said. “If it wasn’t for the BKBIA, I don’t think this area would be what it is.”
Cohn said that the BKBIA has had an on-going relationship with CSI Patrol for four years. “[CSI Patrol has] done a lot of work for us,” he said.
Cohn said that he has discussed clean and safe business programs with CSI, and how the security company adds an extra set of eyes for the BKBIA and supplements police efforts.
“The police know what we’re doing and we work in partnership with CSI and [the police],” he said. “It was after CSI determined there were security issues in the area that [CSI] came to the BKBIA to spruce up their Facebook page. The BKBIA put the word out on it.”
Aside from partnering with CSI and its Facebook page, people should be vigilant in Bixby Knolls, Cohn said.
“We want businesses to be lit up at night,” he said, adding that both businesses and residents should invest in security cameras and report any suspicious activity.
Cohn said the BKBIA and CSI will continue to work on projects in the future.
“They’re out there patrolling for us,” he said. “Anytime we have seen anything like suspicious people, activity or homeless people, we contact Dennis [Cook] with our concerns.”
On why he cares so much about he Bixby Knolls community, Cook referred to LBPD North Commander Rudy Komisza that, “it’s about community ownership and pride,” adding that, “with the Facebook page, we hope more people will buy into the patrol and to increase [it].”
