Keeping it Safe in Rossmoor
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
July 11, 2000
ROSSMOOR -- Capt. Bill Lynn rolls his Chevy Malibu up Terra Granada Drive and approaches a stop sign. He looks puzzled.
"Sometimes I ask myself Well, should I turn left or right?' Sometimes, it just doesn't seem to make a difference," he says, finally clutching the wheel and veering left.
In Rossmoor, an upscale retirement community where the average age is 76 and the posted speed is 25 mph, policing is often a perfunctory task.
Few crimes are reported in this picturesque enclave, where golf carts and automobiles co-exist. But about 9,600 people live here and many ask for help.
Which is where the Public Safety Department, featuring a 27-person security squad outfitted with oxygen tanks and wheelchair-lifting devices, steps into action.
The tiny 24-hour agency, managed by the Rossmoor-based Golden Rain Foundation, fields about 1,300 calls for service each month -- or about twice as many calls as police log each month in Clayton, a city with a slightly larger population.
In Rossmoor, calls for service might be anything from a lost pooch to a backed-up sink.
The safety team's work is embraced by the Walnut Creek Police Department, which handles the crimes that occur in Rossmoor, including burglary, assault and serious vehicle accidents. That leaves the brunt of the calls in Rossmoor -- wheelchair assistance, CPR responses, rattler spottings, you name it -- under the authority of the public safety team.
Officers are not armed, unless you consider the 25-liter air tanks used to aid people short of breath. They do not have the authority to make arrests and issue traffic "warnings" rather than citations.
On occasion, the unit succumbs to boredom.
"Sometimes I'll just turn on the police scanner, fire scanner and the radio all at once," says Pat Pond, one of two dispatchers who fields calls from the security booth of the gated community.
The call volume goes up most during heat waves, when air conditioners fail or people suffer from shortness of breath, and in the winter, when leaking roofs and fallen tree limbs create havoc. During days when cable TV falters, the security switchboard lights up like a pinball machine.
Pond, whose 10-hour shifts include more than 500 phone calls, says the excitement level is minimal, save for an occasional jolt.
On a recent morning, she says, she took a report from a 79-year-old woman who had been in a fist fight with a 76-year-old woman after being cut off in traffic.
"They were rolling on the ground, fighting. It was a mutual combat," Pond says. "I hope I'm still that feisty at that age."
For a kick, Lynn says he will often park his car near a radar trailer and watch brake lights activate as drivers slow to the posted speed limit.
The security staff, headed by Chief Ralph Schillinger, a 30-year veteran of the Berkeley Police Department, responds to about 40 "incidents" a day.
The incidents are filed under one of 44 different categories, including one called "miscellaneous," which could be anything from a burning coffee pot to a screaming smoke alarm.
***
On a recent afternoon, Lynn, 57, steered his white patrol car down Tice Valley Boulevard and approached a three-way stop.
"The biggest problem here is people running stop signs," says the former Berkeley patrol officer, eyeing an Oldsmobile to his right. "Look at this guy! See, he's not waiting."
Nearly 90 minutes into his eight-hour shift, Lynn gets his first call. A scratchy voice sounds over his transmitter: "Code 2 Code 3, fire and ambulance responding Manor Avenue, difficulty breathing."
"C-3, copy," says Lynn, flicking a switch that activates a flashing orange bulb on the car's roof. He steps on the gas. Once he reaches the four-story complex, Lynn grabs a nylon duffel bag, which holds an oxygen tank and a variety of heavy-breathing masks, wrapped in plastic, and hustles toward the building.
When he reaches the fourth floor and finds the room number, he pushes the door open.
"Public safety," he shouts, pulling on a pair of latex gloves as he enters the apartment. "Just hold on there, honey. We'll get you some air."
About 15 minutes later, after Lynn has stabilized the woman, fire officials and paramedics arrive. The woman is carried away on a stretcher.
Medical calls are the most significant tasks performed by the Public Safety Department. From any point in Rossmoor, they can reach the scene in about four minutes.
During the next two hours, Lynn receives two more calls: one for a resident complaining that her gray-and-white Shih Tzu had escaped into a neighbor's yard and another for a faulty smoke detector. An officer tackles the latter assignment.
"Generally, the job will keep you going," says Lynn, a Concord resident who has patrolled Rossmoor for 14 years. "There's always something to report. It's one of those jobs where you just don't know what you'll be doing."
After drinking a warm cup of coffee back at the security gate booth, Lynn climbs into his Malibu and ventures slowly down the road.
Just then, a dispatcher's voice crackles: "We found the dog, the Shih Tzu. He's OK."
Contra Costa Newspapers
July 11, 2000
ROSSMOOR -- Capt. Bill Lynn rolls his Chevy Malibu up Terra Granada Drive and approaches a stop sign. He looks puzzled.
"Sometimes I ask myself Well, should I turn left or right?' Sometimes, it just doesn't seem to make a difference," he says, finally clutching the wheel and veering left.
In Rossmoor, an upscale retirement community where the average age is 76 and the posted speed is 25 mph, policing is often a perfunctory task.
Few crimes are reported in this picturesque enclave, where golf carts and automobiles co-exist. But about 9,600 people live here and many ask for help.
Which is where the Public Safety Department, featuring a 27-person security squad outfitted with oxygen tanks and wheelchair-lifting devices, steps into action.
The tiny 24-hour agency, managed by the Rossmoor-based Golden Rain Foundation, fields about 1,300 calls for service each month -- or about twice as many calls as police log each month in Clayton, a city with a slightly larger population.
In Rossmoor, calls for service might be anything from a lost pooch to a backed-up sink.
The safety team's work is embraced by the Walnut Creek Police Department, which handles the crimes that occur in Rossmoor, including burglary, assault and serious vehicle accidents. That leaves the brunt of the calls in Rossmoor -- wheelchair assistance, CPR responses, rattler spottings, you name it -- under the authority of the public safety team.
Officers are not armed, unless you consider the 25-liter air tanks used to aid people short of breath. They do not have the authority to make arrests and issue traffic "warnings" rather than citations.
On occasion, the unit succumbs to boredom.
"Sometimes I'll just turn on the police scanner, fire scanner and the radio all at once," says Pat Pond, one of two dispatchers who fields calls from the security booth of the gated community.
The call volume goes up most during heat waves, when air conditioners fail or people suffer from shortness of breath, and in the winter, when leaking roofs and fallen tree limbs create havoc. During days when cable TV falters, the security switchboard lights up like a pinball machine.
Pond, whose 10-hour shifts include more than 500 phone calls, says the excitement level is minimal, save for an occasional jolt.
On a recent morning, she says, she took a report from a 79-year-old woman who had been in a fist fight with a 76-year-old woman after being cut off in traffic.
"They were rolling on the ground, fighting. It was a mutual combat," Pond says. "I hope I'm still that feisty at that age."
For a kick, Lynn says he will often park his car near a radar trailer and watch brake lights activate as drivers slow to the posted speed limit.
The security staff, headed by Chief Ralph Schillinger, a 30-year veteran of the Berkeley Police Department, responds to about 40 "incidents" a day.
The incidents are filed under one of 44 different categories, including one called "miscellaneous," which could be anything from a burning coffee pot to a screaming smoke alarm.
***
On a recent afternoon, Lynn, 57, steered his white patrol car down Tice Valley Boulevard and approached a three-way stop.
"The biggest problem here is people running stop signs," says the former Berkeley patrol officer, eyeing an Oldsmobile to his right. "Look at this guy! See, he's not waiting."
Nearly 90 minutes into his eight-hour shift, Lynn gets his first call. A scratchy voice sounds over his transmitter: "Code 2 Code 3, fire and ambulance responding Manor Avenue, difficulty breathing."
"C-3, copy," says Lynn, flicking a switch that activates a flashing orange bulb on the car's roof. He steps on the gas. Once he reaches the four-story complex, Lynn grabs a nylon duffel bag, which holds an oxygen tank and a variety of heavy-breathing masks, wrapped in plastic, and hustles toward the building.
When he reaches the fourth floor and finds the room number, he pushes the door open.
"Public safety," he shouts, pulling on a pair of latex gloves as he enters the apartment. "Just hold on there, honey. We'll get you some air."
About 15 minutes later, after Lynn has stabilized the woman, fire officials and paramedics arrive. The woman is carried away on a stretcher.
Medical calls are the most significant tasks performed by the Public Safety Department. From any point in Rossmoor, they can reach the scene in about four minutes.
During the next two hours, Lynn receives two more calls: one for a resident complaining that her gray-and-white Shih Tzu had escaped into a neighbor's yard and another for a faulty smoke detector. An officer tackles the latter assignment.
"Generally, the job will keep you going," says Lynn, a Concord resident who has patrolled Rossmoor for 14 years. "There's always something to report. It's one of those jobs where you just don't know what you'll be doing."
After drinking a warm cup of coffee back at the security gate booth, Lynn climbs into his Malibu and ventures slowly down the road.
Just then, a dispatcher's voice crackles: "We found the dog, the Shih Tzu. He's OK."
posted by Corey at 9:01 PM
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