Impact of Private Security on APD Allocation of Resources

On Saturday September 19th we held our annual street captain's meeting for neighborhood watch in Virginia-Highland. We were talking about our Virginia-Highland Security Patrol (FBAC) and one attendee asked if having the private patrol in place caused APD to devote fewer resources to our neighborhood.

We sent a query to Major Timothy Peek, Zone 6 Commander for an official response, and very quickly heard back. Here is what he said:

Thank you for sharing your concern and to address the question, the answer is absolutely not.  Resource allocations are based on the number of assigned beats, 911 calls for service as well as the population.  We will always dedicate resources to your area, regardless of whether you have established a security patrol or not.  When giving additional resources, your security patrol is not considered at all.  We do encourage officers working your security patrol to communicate with on duty personnel so that on duty as well as off duty officers understand the crime challenges for your community.  Hopefully, this clears up any misunderstandings.