Dear fellow Cap-Ap Rotarians:
Our January 25 meeting was lunch at Seascape
We had about 22 attendees in person and 3 on zoom
Including your author who had audio problems for the first ten minutes and so missed the thought and joke
Lowry ran the meeting- smooth and funny
Al did welcome song solo and of course rocked it.
Sue was the detective
She had many members tell when and why they joined Rotary. Always fun to learn how our fellow (what’s the feminine for fellow?) members were inspired/cajoled/tricked into joining Rotary and inspiring to hear why they have stayed and the true spirit of Rotary. We really have an outstanding group of people.
Jeffrey Brouillette from SCPD was our guest speaker
His topic was Protecting Ourselves
He’s been on the force 11 years and has learned much about relatively simple ways to minimize the risks of property crimes.
He told a funny anecdote about a case he was on where his team had staked out a parking lot which had many break-ins. They saw a guy smash a car window and take the contents off the seat and when they stopped him he said, “The window was already broken man!” (Remember President Carter’s joke about the drunk who was charged with public drunkneness and arson after he was pulled from a burning hotel room, “I plead guilty to being drunk but the bed was on fire when I got in it”)
Det. Brouillette explained the difference between robbery, burglary, shoplifting and larceny- something all the lawyers in the room know and cringe at whenever they are used improperly/interchangeable. That may be a subject of inquiry for one of our next Rotary detectives….
Not to be proud of or on a bumper sticker: Santa Cruz County has the second highest per- capita property crime rate on the state-2,500 property crimes per 100,000 residents. Alameda County is worst.
Det Brouillette home has been burgled twice. Ouch. Like the fire house catching on fire?
Det Brouillette gave a power point presentation as he explained: the four D’s- Deter, Detect, Delay and Deny (no, not stolen from a certain former President’s litigation strategy). Deter would-be criminals with surveillance systems and signs advising that the property is protected; Detect them with those systems, floodlights and alarms, Delay with locks and other obstacles to gaining entry to property, and Deny by safely securing property so that it is essentially unreachable. Good tips for minimizing the risks.
Footnote- Det. Brouillette was a key witness in your author’s successful defense of a wrongful death case last year- very professional, very well spoken.
Remember: no lunch meeting this week- our Feb. 1 meeting is the social (meaning alcohol and food) at Cantine in Aptos 530-7ish.
See everyone there!!