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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For the first time in our 10 years in Kerrisdale it rained virtually all day long.

Despite the rain, we still managed to give out about 700 balloons … and a few kids even went down the (water)slide. Many clients came by to say hello and several people who have been waiting to call us came by to ask a few questions about how easy it is to switch over from their current alarm provider to Provident (most of the time, it’s really easy).

The next Kerrisdale Days will be held on August 24th, 25th and 26th, 2006 – which are almost always bright and sunny days!

We’ll be out there again, for our 20th Kerrisdale Days, with the giant slide and hopefully short sleeved shirts.

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Kerrisdale Carnival Days are happening again this weekend (Friday, April 28th and Saturday, April 29th). The Annual Kerrisdale Parade will get underway on Saturday at 10:00am.

The parade route follows West 41st Avenue, starting at Maple Street, all of the way past Larch Street and ending at Elm Park. As always, the parade has a great mix of marching bands, vintage cars, pets on parade, the Kerrisdale Little League as well as an assortment of other groups. The first pitch for the Kerrisdale Little League happens at Elm Park as soon as the parade is over.

For the 9th consecutive year, Provident is a major sponsor of Kerrisdale Carnival Days and we will have our giant inflatable slide set up between the Royal Bank and TD Canada Trust on Yew Street all day Saturday. Myself and many of the Provident team will be there giving out balloons and tattoos for the kids.

In addition, members of the Vancouver Police Dog Squad and Kerrisdale Community Policing Office will also be onsite for most of the day near the slide and Provident tent.

Please come by and say hi!

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