For the seventh consecutive year, police cadets and district safety personnel are walking neighborhoods around Sac City campuses asking neighbors to report suspicious activities on school grounds to law enforcement agencies.

"About 50 percent of vandalism and burglaries occur in June, July and August," explained Sgt. Vincent Matranga of Sac City’s security services.

The neighborhood watch program started as a result of an almost $1-million bill for vandalism and burglary during the fiscal year 1992-1993.

"We decided that enough is enough," Matranga said.

He explained that he was inspired to ask neighbors for help after vandals struck an elementary site. "About 40 windows at the school were broken and I thought it’s impossible for a group of kids to break all those windows without anyone in the neighborhood seeing or hearing anything."

Armed with flyers and phone numbers, Matranga started walking around the neighborhood to inform residents about what was going on at the campuses during the summer. "After wearing out the first pair of shoes, I realized I would need some help," he said with a smile.

Help came from police cadets enrolled in district and area high schools. "The cadets do a terrific job and they interact well with the community," Matranga noted. "People love to see them and talk to them."

After talking with residents around the schools, Matranga realized that one of the main problems was ignorance.

They didn’t know whom to call when they spotted youngsters spray painting or breaking windows.

A small card listing a few phone numbers for reporting the crimes solved that problem.

"The program took off like wildfire, and it has just been a great success," Matranga said.

"We get lots of phone calls," he added. "I can’t say enough about the people who live around the schools and how much they have helped us over the years. We couldn’t be more happy."

Since the program started seven years ago, costs for repairing damage caused by graffiti, broken windows and other vandalism have gone down.

Matranga cited the following statistics.

In 1998-99, SCUSD reported $64,021 in vandalism-related expenses. That amount was almost $6,000 less than the 1997-98 figure of $69,958.

The 1995-96 tab was $160,391 — two and a half times the 1998-99 costs.

Vandalism expenses for the 1999-2000 year have not yet been determined and will include last fall’s damage — estimated at $250,000 — to Luther Burbank High School Auditorium.

Sac City now has one of the best records in the state for reducing vandalism and burglary. Better lighting, alarms and security cameras also helped reduce crimes. — Linda A. Smolek