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Local Restaurant Partners with Coral Springs Police

Wings Plus of Coral Springs is the center of political activity. Pictured are candidates Douglas Harrison running for State House 104 and Elizabeth Eddy running for State House 99

Coral Springs Police Department and Wings Plus have partnered to help get residents to report suspicious activity.

Wings Plus, located at 9880 Sample Road and 1235 University Drive has agreed to help the police department promote their “Made a Call, Make a Difference” crime prevention program.

Employees from Wings Plus will be putting a “Make a Call, Make a Difference” crime prevention flyer in every takeout order bag for the next month.

Having the residents and the police department working together as a team is a great way to prevent crime in the city and anyway I can help promote the program is the least I can do”. – Brian Walsh owner of Wings Plus.

On Wednesday, a resident called police and reported that there were two suspicious individuals walking around the neighborhood. Officers responded and make contact with Panachret Contain, 15, of Coral Springs and Steven Jativa, 15, of Coral Springs. Both individuals were found in possession of stolen property from vehicle burglaries that occurred in Coral Springs. In addition, Jativa was found in possession of stolen property from a residential burglary that occurred in the City of Boca Raton.

Both Jativa and Contain were charged with three counts of burglary auto, three counts of petit theft and loitering and prowling.

By that resident making a call, two criminals were taken off the streets and the victim’s stolen property was recovered.

Over the past year, the Coral Springs Police Department has been educating the community and asking them to partner with the police department to help prevent crime.

Residents, business owners, and city employees, have been trained to identify criminal activity, how to report it, and how not to become a victim. The training was accomplished in several different ways, and was paid for by forfeiture funds (funds confiscated from criminals). By utilizing forfeiture funds, the criminals have been paying for the police department to educate the public and city employees on how to prevent crimes.

Listed below are the different avenues that have been utilized:

Civilian City employees, especially those in the field, (Code Enforcement, Parks and Recreation, and Building) were trained on the latest techniques used by criminals and the best way to report what they see
Public Service Announcement for movie theater
Video for City TV
Articles in the Coral Springs Magazine
Brochure inserts in the Coral Springs Magazine
Article on city website
Included in May 2011 eNewsletter
Flyer distributed at Slice of Springs meetings
Banners for special events and city parks
Magnets for distribution at July 4th celebration
Posters for businesses
Flyers for Publix and Wal-Mart
Text notification through Code Red
Community Partner flyer distribution
Series of Forum Ads
Neighborhood signs
Gobo disc projecting on Public Safety building
Public Service Announcements prior to Movies in the Park

The announcements contain the following information:

Report any suspicious persons, activities or vehicles in your neighborhood—especially strange vehicles backed into driveways
Criminals/burglars often knock first to see if anyone is home and ask for someone who does not live there, so report any unfamiliar person that knocks on your door
Always lock your residence and vehicle doors
Make your first call to the police—then your family members
Turn on your alarm system
Never leave valuables in your vehicle
If you leave town for a period of time, request a vacation watch for your residence

Remember, vehicle and residential burglaries only take seconds to happen, so please be aware of your surroundings and do not hesitate to call the police. You could prevent a crime before it ever happens.

Author Profile

Sharon Aron Baron

Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.