Kerrisdale Days are here again… the sidewalk sale is on Thursday, August 27th and Friday, August 28th while the main event will be held on Saturday, August 29th between 9:00am and 5:00pm.

One of the big events is the annual Kerrisdale Idol competition that will be happening on the main stage between Starbucks and Shoppers Drug Mart. There is a $1,000 prize to the winner … but only 30 spots are available. Registration is first-come-first-served and will be happening at 8:30am in front of the stage.

This year will mark Provident’s 13th year of participating in Kerrisdale Days as a Business Association member and Sponsor (and security provider)… with Kerrisdale Carnival Days in April and Kerrisdale Days in August, this will be our 26th event on the street!

As always, we’ll be set-up on Yew Street between TD Canada Trust and RBC with our giant inflatable slide. We’ll have the slide set-up by 9:00am and will be giving out balloons all day long.

One of the most common questions that we get about the slide, once people see how big it is in real-life, is “how do you move that thing around and set it up?” … we filmed a short video that answers that question…

We’ve received a number of calls/emails from people today asking if they can just show up to tomorrow’s home security seminar in our Kerrisdale Showroom. Unfortunately, given space restraints, we really cannot fit anyone else in.

However, we have added another event next Tuesday, March 3rd…. exact same details as tomorrow’s event, just on a different day.

If you are interested in attending, please click here to RSVP for our March 3rd event.

If you are involved with a block watch and/or other group, let us know if you would like to book a private home security presentation… you can either bring your group here to us, or we’ll be happy to come to you. Contact Rebecca Bligh by email if you’re interested in more information.

Click on the video below to watch CCTV footage from a residential burglary in Southlands last week.

Other than the fact that this burglary occurred on a Sunday afternoon, the balance of it occurs exactly as I’ve described in my post about the typical residential burglary…

When you watch the video, notice how much time was spent by the crooks before actually kicking in the front door. The first of the three crooks goes to the front door and rings the bell a few times, knocks on the door and then looks through a few windows before going back to the car to let the other two know that the house is empty.

All three burglars put on gloves and walk together to the front door, again checking through the windows.

The front door gets kicked in on the first try and they all run into the house.

Luckily, in this case, the burglars did not get anything of value in the home because other security measures had been taken to slow them down once inside.

You can also see several people walking and jogging past the house just as the burglars are making their getaway.

There were at least three burglaries in Southlands on the 25th… most likely by these same three guys. If you recognize anyone in the video, please give us a call at 604.664.1087 or call the VPD at 604.717.3321

This video is a good reminder of the fact that there isn’t much that you can do to make it physically impossible to break-in. If someone really wants to get in, they can. The most important security consideration is to five minute proof your home and belongings so that, in the event that someone does try to get in, it will take them at least five minutes (from the time the alarm first sounds) to get their hands on what you are trying to protect.

We cover the exact play-by-play of burglaries in our home security seminars. Understanding exactly how burglaries occur is one of the very best ways to reduce your risk of loss. If you would like to register, click here to send us an email. ***UPDATE*** click here to sign up for our next seminar

Here are a few still frames of the three burglars in the video… please forward this post on to anyone who think might recognize one, or all, of them.

UPDATE (June 9, 2008): As the tagger from the video referenced below has been identified, we’ve removed it from YouTube and the blog.

Click on the video below to watch a short clip showing a tagger in Kerrisdale last week. We’ve burned a few DVD’s (in much higher quality than this compressed clip) of the full video that shows the tagger as well as his friend that has been sent to a few of the neighbourhood schools (as well as the Police). In the interest of trying to speed up the process of identifying him, we’ve also posted the video on YouTube.

The photo below shows the tag that he left behind. If you (or your kids) recognize either the tagger or the tag, please get in touch with us at 604.664.1087 or by email.

Although graffiti and senseless vandalism like this are prevalent throughout Vancouver… the Westside gets hit particularly badly. At a KBA meeting last year, Dave Struthers, from CBS/JC Decaux (who supply and maintain all the city’s bus shelters, benches, toilets and other street furniture) acknowledged that the Westside is by far the worst area of the city and that more is spent on repairs to street furniture due to vandalism here than anywhere else in the city. That’s pretty sad.

Back in 2000, when graffiti was at its worst in Kerrisdale, Provident developed a database to help track the incidents of graffiti in the neighbourhood for the Kerrisdale Business Association… that way, once we eventually caught a tagger in the act, we could compare their tag to others in the database. The clip below is from a 2001 CTV newstory that talks about the program… (the technology that we use, although pretty cutting edge back in 2001, has improved a lot since this newsclip).

What should you do if you find graffiti on your property?

If you live on the Westside of Vancouver…

1. Take a photo of each individual tag (make sure that you record the time and date);
2. Remove/paint-over the tag as soon as possible;
3. If you live/work on the Westside, send us a copy of your photos and we will add it to our database;
4. Report the incident to the VPD (so that it will be added to their crime statistics)

If you live anywhere else…

1. Take a photo of each individual tag (make sure that you record the time and date);
2. Remove/paint-over the tag as soon as possible;
3. Report the incident to your local police department’s non-emergency line/online reporting service

We have a few spots left for our next home security seminar which will be held on Wednesday, May 28th at 7:00pm.

The seminar covers, with lots of pictures, exactly how burglaries occur on Vancouver’s Westside. More importantly, we will show you exactly what you can do (both high and low tech) to ensure that you minimize your risk of becoming a victim.

The seminar will be held in our new Kerrisdale showroom (click here to see what it looks like) where we have almost every conceivable home security device installed and ready to demonstrate that you can have high security without ruining the look of your home…

If you are interested in attending, please let us know via email at seminar@providentsecurity.bc.ca

We will also be offering brief tours of our state of the art Operations Centre… we will show you where all Provident alarm signals are received and automatically dispatched, how we can guarantee our five minute response time as well as show you how our unique BLINK monitoring service works.

Our showroom is located at 2309 West 41st Avenue…. which is at 41st and Vine Street.

The Kerrisdale Business Association is hosting Carnival Days this coming Saturday, April 26th … The annual parade will start at 10:00am at Maple and West 41st Avenue, making its way Westbound towards Elm Park where the first pitch will be thrown to mark the start of the 50th season of Kerrisdale Little League. Click here for a link to the schedule of events.

Provident has been both a KBA member as well as a sponsor of Carnival Days and Kerrisdale Days (in August) since 1996…. this Saturday will be our 25th Kerrisdale event.

This Saturday will be the first time out this season for the giant inflatable Provident slide! The slide will be up and ready for free rides as soon as the parade is over until 4:30pm.

Would you like to have the Provident slide at your community event?

The Provident slide is available for other community events (provided that they are West of Oak Street) … if you, or someone you know, is interested in talking about having the slide at your school, community, block party or other event… please click here for information about how you can get the slide for free.

This Saturday, August 25th will be Provident’s 22nd time participating in Kerrisdale Days as both a major sponsor and security provider.

As always, we will be set-up on Yew Street, between the Royal Bank and TD Canada Trust.

This year will see the inaugural use of our brand new Provident slide.
Standing almost 3 stories high, it will be hard to miss. The slide is certainly the biggest one that I have ever seen and is as much fun for adults as it is for little kids. Just about everything is free (the slide certainly is), so come down and check it out.

For information on everything else that is happening on Saturday, check out the Kerrisdale Business Association website.

We received a call today advising us that someone had tried to pull one of the oldest, but lucrative, scams at a Kerrisdale bank branch.

The scam, called the Bank Inspector fraud  (or the Granny Game) … involves a con artist calling an elderly person, typically a woman living alone, and introducing themselves as an Inspector for the bank. The ‘Inspector’ will tell the victim that they are conducting an internal investigation into a teller, or other bank employee, suspected of embezzling money. To try and keep the victim from talking to anyone about the request, the ‘Inspector’ will often say that they do not know exactly who at the bank is committing the crime and that any communication by the victim could ruin the investigation.

The con-artist will request the victim’s assistance by agreeing to go to the bank, withdrawing a substantial sum (typically between $1,000.00 and $2,000.00) and then meeting with the ‘Inspector’ outside the bank who will take the funds for inspection. They will then promise a return call and that all of the funds will be deposited back into the victim’s account by the end of the day.

In the recent case in Kerrisdale, the senior went to the bank, withdrew the money but was then questioned by her caregiver as to why she needed the money. The caregiver then returned to the bank with the senior and explained what had happened. The Vancouver Police were called and the money was deposited back into the seniors account.

Heads-Up.ca is a website run by the Heads Up Fraud Prevention Association out of Edmonton. They have a good website with a list of several other common scams. This particular scam is common enough that they created a cheesy, but effective, video that explains how the crime works (but you need to download it).

This Sunday (June 26^th) Provident is once again sponsoring a soapbox car in the 15^th Annual Kitsilano Soapbox Derby. This is our third year of being a part of this great event.

Every year, between 9:00am and Noon, West 4^th Avenue between Yew Street and Burrard Street is closed down to traffic to make room for the soapbox race track.

Bring your family down to enjoy a great morning cheering on the kids in the races.

We are all looking forward to watching our new driver Paxton Ricketts steer the bright yellow Provident racer to our best finish time yet.

Good luck Paxton!

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Many of you have heard about the arson attacks in Shaughnessy and Kerrisdale the past two days. Here is a link to this morning’s story about them in the Vancouver Sun.

Over the years, we have dealt with several arsonists working in the Kerrisdale, Kitsilano and Arbutus Ridge neighbourhoods.

About three years ago, Kerrisdale Business Association merchants were regularly having the contents of their dumpsters set on fire. Similarly, an arsonist targeted a condominium/town house property where vehicles, garbage bins and children’s playparks were targeted. A particular problem with the condo development was that multiple fires were often set on the same night… some which the Fire Department felt were set while they were already on site dealing with the first call. In Kitsilano, someone was making their way into many office buildings along West Broadway and lighting fires in the washrooms as well as at office doorways.

In each case, we were hired to increase the level of surveillance and security by providing both uniformed and plain clothed security guards. On several occasions, both Vancouver Police and Fire Department Arson investigators have spoken with our staff and advised us on what to look for, especially at the scene of a fire.

Typically, arsonists like to watch the fire that they have started… sometimes going out of their way to help ‘put it out’ or assist in some way once the Fire Department is on scene.

For the most part, arson is a crime of opportunity and convenience. In the three incidents noted above, the suspects all ended up living very close by.

To help reduce the risk for you and your neighbours, try to take your garbage and recycling out in the morning rather than leaving it out all night. Similarly, take a look at your property and remove anything else that might tempt an arsonist. Motion activated lights are a good deterrent and should be mounted as high as possible on your garage (You will need to call your electrician to install motion lights). Most importantly, pay special attention to any late night activity in your alley. All of the recent arsons have occured between midnight and 4:00am.

All of our patrol teams have been briefed about what has happened and will be paying special attention to this issue. As always, should you see someone suspicious in your back alley, or anywhere, please call us at 604.664.1087 and we will send someone around to check it out. Of course, if you witness someone actually starting a fire, or committing any other crime, call 911.

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