Newsletter Special Edition.pub - Fort Worth Police Department

EAST DIVISION
CODE BLUE/CRIME WATCH
NEWSLETTER
Special Edition
East Division
1100 Nashville Ave
Fort Worth Texas 76105
817-392-4640 or 817-392-4641
Crime Watch Newsletter
is published by the Fort Worth Police Department East Division Crime Prevention Unit
For more information please contact Shirlee Wilkinson at 817-392-4673 or
shirlee.wilkinson@fortworthgov.org

Code Blue/Crime Watch Newsletter Special Edition Page 2
A Message From Captain Jones
East Division 2010 Summer Safety Initiative a Success!
Summer’s over and our children are back in school. Whew!! The East Division wishes every student the
very best for this school year. We also appreciate the tremendous support we received from our east side
citizens and businesses this summer. Together we’ll continue making a difference!
Summer 2010 was a busy season in the East Division. We said goodbye to Lieutenant Freddie Garcia,
Lieutenant James Harrison, Lieutenant Jimmy McCarthy and some officers and detectives as well. On July
31 st , we welcomed some great new officers, supervisors and commanders with a special Welcome Celebration
barbeque dinner and fellowship. Thank you Smokey’s and all our citizen supporters for making that
event possible!! On September 7 th , we opened the brand new Polytechnic Heights Neighborhood Police
Center located at 1100 Nashville Ave. This will be the home of the division’s patrol staff. The facility at
5650 E. Lancaster Ave is now the home of our neighborhood patrol officers, detectives and zero tolerance
officers. The main number to 5650 E. Lancaster Ave is 817-392-4800. The main number to the Polytechnic
Heights Neighborhood Police Center is 817-392-4640 or 4641.
On July 27 th , the East Division hosted the department’s Police Forum. Concerned citizens, COP members,
MAC and CAPA members and neighborhood representatives from all over the east side filled up the Without
Walls Church to ask questions of city and police officials and show their appreciation for the East Division
team. We were overwhelmed by the strong show of support you gave us. Know that we are very
grateful!
Now, let’s talk about the East Division summer crime initiatives!
The great men and women of the East Division are pleased to report that our summer crime initiatives were
a success. Our Crime Suppression Initiative targeted Woodhaven and the John T. White, Eastchase Pkwy
and Cooks Meadow areas. Our officers worked with undercover officers and with Zero Tolerance teams
from north, south, west and central divisions to conduct intensive enforcement details targeting habitual
offenders. In the end, the targeted area experienced a 21% reduction in Part I crimes. The division also
conducted special enforcement details in Polytechnic Heights, Stops Six, West and Central Meadowbrook,
Eastern Hills and Handley. We saw significant reductions in crime in most of these areas as well. Overall,
the East Division 2010 Summer Safety Initiative was a huge success!
The division recognizes our great citizen partners for their service and cooperation that helped reduce
crime. For example, our Citizens on Patrol warriors ran special saturation operations in our targeted areas,
our new Business Code Blue members entered into the community-police partnership, and our crime watch
members called us to report crimes as they were occurring. On behalf of the East Division, I want to say a
special thank you to all of you for helping us push our crime rate down.
The simmer reconfirms that neighborhoods are made safer through strong police-community partnerships.
There are two ways you can partner with us in making your neighborhood safer – become a member of
crime watch and/or a member of Citizens on Patrol. To join these great programs, call 817-392-4640 and
ask to speak to Shirlee Wilkinson for Citizens on Patrol membership and Mike Grigsby for crime watch
membership. Remember, this is Your East Side. Let’s take care of it together.
Always say YES!
Captain Gene A. Jones
East Division

Code Blue/Crime Watch Newsletter Special Edition Page 3
A Message From The Lieutenants
From the Desk of Lt. Kevin Rodricks
Greetings……I’m Lieutenant Rodricks. I have been in law enforcement for nearly twenty four year. I have spent
ten of those years in patrol- seven as a patrol officer, and three as a Patrol and NPO Sergeant. Five plus years of my
tenure have been as a detective involved in investigations such as general assignments at the sector level, while a
majority of that time was spent conducting auto theft and commercial auto theft investigations. I promoted to lieutenant
in February 2002 and have had the privilege to command sections like North Criminal Investigations, Auto
Theft, Vice and Jail Operations.
Currently I’m assigned to East Division Patrol as the 2 nd shift Watch Commander. In this capacity I oversee 4 field
sergeants and their four teams during our ten hour shifts (either from 1500 hrs to 0100 hrs, or a late roll call from
1600 hrs to 0200 hrs). Our primary responsibility is to respond to police calls for service, and to further provide
crime suppression and deterrence through a combination of traffic enforcement and/or addressing on-view criminal
activity.
My goal in the above stated endeavor is to instill in my officers a sense of duty through diligence, conducted in a
professional/courteous manner, and to place paramount importance on their safety. I can be reached on my cell
phone at (817)733-2455 for police related business during my duty hours/days which are Sunday through Wednesday
between 1500 hrs and 0100 hrs (3 P.M-1 A.M-standard time).
From the Desk of Lt. Jay Weenig
I began law enforcement in 1979 as a juvenile officer in the State of Utah. I spent 5 years in that capacity before
moving to Fort Worth in 1985 where I joined the Fort Worth Police Department. I spent my first 4 ½ years as a patrol
officer in the East Division. At the end of 1989 I became a detective and was assigned to the Theft Section. In
September 1990 the detective office was decentralized and I moved back to the East Division as a detective. During
the next 8 ½ years I was involved in burglary and robbery investigations. In 1998 I was promoted to sergeant and
spent 2 ½ years on the midnight shift in North Division, patrolling the Stockyards and surrounding area. I was then
transferred to Internal Affairs for a brief time until I was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in May of 2001. My
first command was back in the East Division over the detective office and zero tolerance team. I then transferred to
the Special Operations Division where I served as the gang and vice commander. My next assignment was back in
East Division as NPD 5 commander. I transferred to Incident Command for a couple of years assigned to the South/
East Bureau. In the summer of 2010 I came back, once again to the East Division as the criminal investigation section
commander.
My section consists of the criminal investigation unit (detectives), zero tolerance team, and the neighborhood police
officer section. I have 1 sergeant for the detectives, 1 for the zero tolerance team with a corporal as a back up, and
two sergeants for neighborhood police officers. The mission of our section is identical to the mission of the department;
to provide quality service in partnership with the community to create a safer environment for all. To this end
we will work diligently to investigate all crimes assigned to our section, respond vigorously to crime trends and patterns,
and work closely with our community partners to form a synergistic one two punch aimed at the heart of
crime. The officers in our section develop close relationships with other departments, agencies, and citizen groups
to address quality of life issues which traditionally have not been under police purview. If I may be of service, or if
you have any concerns please feel free to contact me at jay.weenig@fortworthgov.org or at (817) 392-4801. My
From the Desk of Lt. Janice Willingham
I was recently transferred to East Division on July 31. 2010, with over 29 years of experience in various areas
within the police department. I started my career in the East Division and it’s good to be back.

Code Blue/Crime Watch Newsletter Special Edition Page 4
E529 – Officer Allen Speed—817-944-2725
Crime Free Multi-housing Coordinator/South/East Bureau
Greetings,
Well the fall weather has finally arrived. I will not miss the 100 degree weather we had that’s for sure. Speaking of heat, we have been
tracking crimes in apartments and here recently one of the highest crime locations last year was Park Terrace Apartments (eastside)
located at 6000 Boca Raton. Since January 24 of this year this property has not had a crime occur. This is truly amazing. How did they
do it? Well the management company took action towards any tenant that committed a crime by evicting them. Second they improved the
lighting of the property, placed security surveillance cameras through out the property , and an armed security officer that monitors who
comes on to the property at the front gate. They also placed new signage for addresses for emergency response. They implemented the
Crime Free Lease Addendum (any criminal activity to include violence, narcotic and gang activity, discharging of weapons, prostitution,
threats, intimidations, and it holds them accountable for their guests). The calls for police service and criminal activity dropped by more
than 98 percent. As I always say, crime is about opportunity. Do not give the criminal element the opportunity to commit a crime. The
City council is looking at making the Crime Free Multi-housing program a city ordinance. With 726,000 citizens in Fort Worth with many of
them living in rental housing this will benefit our City. I also must add that your police department has answered more than 1 million calls
so far this year. Our city is growing so we need to be in the crime prevention business.
The best way you can assist the Police Department is to do the following:
1). Mark your property (Identification or Drivers license).
2). Inventory your property to include the make, model and serial number.
3). R.A.P.I.D.S (recovered automated parts identification system) bar codes you place on your property
4). Lighting around your residence. Keep shrubs and trees cut back.
5). Awareness- most robberies take place in parking lots. When arriving at a shopping center or parking in a parking lot, look around for
suspicious persons
6). Reinforce your door frames. There are several items on the market that are metal strips with 31/2 inch screws.
7). When shopping do not place handbags or purses in the cart. Many times these are stolen when the customer is distracted.
8). If some one knocks on your door that you do not know you may report that suspicious person to the police department as they may be
casing your residence for a burglary.
9). Keep garage doors down.
10). Shred credit card statements. When paying with a credit card try and keep the card in your view. The bad guy can take a picture of
the front and back with cell phone or use a skimmer. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime.
11). Be aware of the crime stats in your neighborhood and where you frequent. Go to WWW.Fortworthpd.com and check out the crime
mapping.
12). Best of all be apart of the Neighborhood Crime Watch, and Citizens on Patrol.
I hope some of those crime prevention tips helped. Until next month, be safe and stay alert!
Respectfully,
Officer Allen Speed
South/East Bureau
CFMH Coordinator
817-944-2725
Officer Allen Speed
Hero for the Day
November 29, 2010