KPD offering Slurpees for crime prevention

Home

Opinions

Kissimmee

Other Sun Publications

FREE DELIVERY!
Get Free Delivery! Request your Osceola News Gazette Today.

Login Form

2013 Osceola Health

2013 Sexual Predator Sexual Offender List sexualpredatorcover13

Windows on the Classroom March 2013

School Calendar
2012-2013

View our other Special Sections

KPD offering Slurpees for crime prevention

Around Osceola

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 00:00

By Brian McBride
Associate Editor
Protect your possessions and secure a Slurpee.
Partnering with 7-Eleven, the Kissimmee Police Department has begun to hand out free coupons for a small Slurpee to residents practicing crime prevention. Here’s how it works: Patrol officers on the road, when they have the opportunity, will inspect parking lots looking for vehicles that are locked and have no valuables in plain sight. Those they spot could be rewarded with the coupon as part of the “Lock, Keep and Take” police program.
So, what swayed Kissimmee police to try this?
“Victim assisted crimes are most prevalent in the city of Kissimmee. Kissimmee Police Department has always walked parking lots and left placards on vehicles outlining how the vehicle was left at risk,” police spokesperson Stacie Miller said. “KPD wanted to take a different route and reward citizens who are practicing crime prevention techniques.”
7-Eleven’s Slurpee program is known as Operation Chill and the company donates the coupons to local law enforcement agencies.
“We have used the coupons in the past to reward children for wearing helmets while biking or if they can answer a safety question. Primarily we have used the Operation Chill program to help break the ice between police officers and kids,” Miller said.
On April 14, Officer Jeff Patanjo was walking the parking lots of Valencia Community College. He was checking a car belonging to student Christian Rivera just as he was returning to his vehicle. Having earned a coupon that Patanjo placed on his windshield, he was relieved when he only learned that Patanjo was merely rewarding him for practicing crime prevention.
“I thought I was going to jail,” he said, with a big smile.
At a different car, Patanjo spotted a purse in the back seat of the car and placed a flier on the car educating the driver about protecting vehicles from thefts. But no reward.
What can an officer do if her or she spots a car at risk of theft?
“An officer will not be able to enter a vehicle and hide items in view, however, if an officer notices a door unlocked on a vehicle, they will lock it,” Miller said.
Normally, the convenience store chain rolls out the Slurpee coupon program annually with local law enforcement during the summer months, Miller said. But for this campaign, the chain made an exception.
“Our public relations unit approached 7-Eleven to see if the program could be initiated earlier and explained the merits of the Lock, Keep and Take program,” Miller said. “7-Eleven was excited and supportive of the program and provided coupons earlier to KPD.”
According to the 7-Eleven company Web site since 1995, 7-Eleven has provided more than 6 million Slurpee coupons to police departments across the country.
Outside of parking lots, if officers are aware of a neighborhood where cars are frequently left unlocked, they have the option of taking the program to that area, police officials said.
The department will continue the reward program while the Slurpee coupons last to educate residents on protecting their property decrease the risk of becoming a victim of crime. It’s also to show appreciation for residents who do their part to police themselves.
“With warm temperatures approaching, a cold 7-Eleven Slurpee is a nice thank you treat,” Chief Fran Iwanski said. press release.”