On average, how many Redmond Police Department (RPD) officers are on the road at a time? On average, how many calls for service does RPD receive in a week? (A “call for service” being a call generated through our dispatch center requiring an officer response. This can range from an accidental 911 hangup to a murder. It doesn’t matter whether one or five officers respond — it accounts for one “call for service.”)

Those are two questions I ask citizens when discussing crime prevention in Redmond, especially if they make suggestions or (in not so many words) ask for an officer to park outside their home all night. Guesses have ranged between two and 75 officers, and from 50-10,000 calls.

Public safety is not as easy as television leads us to believe. DNA results take months to receive, not minutes. Fingerprints are likely not able to be lifted from a crime scene and, if so, there is no guarantee there will be a match for them. Suspects are rarely caught within an hour; sometimes it can take years, if at all. And there won’t be commercials to allow officers to take a potty break. That’s reality no matter where you live.

However, I believe one of the best aspects of Redmond is that it’s safe. In fact, statistics (and some RPD “old timers”) confirm that crime was far worse decades ago than today. In 1985 (the oldest stats I currently have at my fingertips), Redmond had 51 property crimes and two violent crimes per 1,000 residents. In 2011, those numbers stood at 24 property crimes and .8 violent crimes. and that’s with our population nearly having doubled in the last 30 years. And that’s with our population on a steady incline.

While that’s great for residents, it’s often frustrating for police because there is no “bad” part of town. It makes crime fighting more difficult because trends are fluid. What happens on Education Hill today will be in the Overlake area tomorrow. Residential burglaries today will be vehicle prowls tomorrow.

That’s why you are pivotal in solving crime. Yep, I’m talking to YOU! It’s rare that a police officer stumbles upon a crime in progress (something else televisions lead us to believe). It usually comes from people being good witnesses — calling 911 immediately upon seeing something wrong or suspicious; providing details instead of getting involved.

If we can offer one piece of advice to be safer (in addition to removing valuables from vehicles, keeping trees/shrubs trimmed so they don’t block the view to homes, making homes look lived in when you aren’t there, make sure doors and windows have good locks, and reporting crimes immediately) it’s to meet your neighbors. Know who belongs in your neighborhood and who doesn’t. Communicate with one another. I grew up where neighbors were welcomed with a smile and apple pie, but life rarely allows time for such gestures now. This alone keeps you safer by having extra eyes on your home, you know who lives where, and you may even get one another’s phone number to call in case they see something suspicious around your home.

In other words, start a Neighborhood Watch program, because those eight officers (on average) responding to 500-ish calls each week can’t always be outside your door. For more crime prevention information, visit www.redmond.gov/police.

Jim Bove is the Redmond Police Department’s community outreach facilitator.