VAN NUYS : Parolees Will Field Crime Questions
What makes a burglar target a particular home or business? Are muscular people less likely to get robbed than frail people? And just how effective are car alarms?
When in doubt, ask an ex-con.
That’s the advice of police, who say Van Nuys residents can do just that at a question-and-answer session with parolees on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the roll call room of the Van Nuys police station at 6240 Sylmar Ave.
Senior Lead Officer Jean Green, who is bringing the parolees in from a local halfway house, said the workshop should clear up misconceptions about personal, home and vehicle security.
“Usually, the question that comes first to us is, ‘What makes a criminal choose me rather than somebody else?’ ” said Green. “A lot of citizens are under the misconception that the bigger they are, the less likely they are going to get robbed. They think that frail people are more likely targets.
“That’s not the case,” she pointed out. “Usually, the ones that don’t get robbed are the ones that are alert.
“A lot of questions come up like that,” Green said. “The parolees kind of straighten them out.”
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