Redwood City Residents Take Public Safety Into Their Own Hands

Redwood City residents are banding together and hitting the streets, after recent burglaries near their homes left them feeling unsafe.

About 40 people hand delivered fliers to their neighbors this weekend that detail tips from the Redwood City Police department on how to prevent burglaries.

Foster Kinney walked through the neighborhood near John Gill School.  “I did this because I want to meet more people in my area,” Kinney told Patch Sunday.  “I will concentrate on late afternoons, when more people are home, so I can deliver the message directly,” Kinney said.

People were generally friendly and receptive, according to the block walkers.  As residents went door to door, they shared stories about their experiences with burglaries.  Kinney was told tales of burglars entering through open windows and tools disappearing from construction sites.

Many of the volunteers who patrolled their neighborhoods said they were inspired to take to the streets by “The LK’s,” Larry and Loretta Knight.

Loretta Knight said she was very worried about how bold criminals are becoming in her community.  “There was a man going door to door, shaking door knobs on James Street to see if anyone was home,” Knight said.  “He was obviously not selling anything,” she said.

Although she was not able to join her neighbors this weekend because of an injury, Knight said that volunteers would be walking through Eagle Hill and the Roosevelt neighborhoods this weekend and each one thereafter through the month of June.  The plan is to get as many Redwood City residents involved, so neighbors can get to know each other and create a neighborhood watch.

Loretta Knight said she got the idea from Ernie Schmidt, Chair of the Redwood City Planning Commission.

On May 10, Schmidt shared a message with his neighbors on Nextdoor, a private social network, asking them if they wanted to watch out for one another.  People immediately replied en masse.  This past weekend, Schmidt gave 800 fliers to volunteers to distribute.  

“We had neighbors volunteering from Woodside Plaza, the Farm Hill Area and even San Carlos,” Schmidt said Monday.  “We are going to be hitting as many neighborhoods as we can, we are not limiting it to our own neighborhoods. Reason being is that we hope that we can inspire more neighbors to walk as the weekends go by,” he said. 

Some residents such as Doraine Couillard said they were only able to do half of their planned route, because they ran out of flyers. 

“I found that the people I actually got to speak with were both gracious and receptive, and very happy to see that people are being proactive in this effort to build a more secure community,” Couillard said.  “I also found along the way that many people have installed security systems, although it remains to be seen if they are actually effective to deter thieves,” Couillard said.