Security

Today's Clarion Ledger has this article about neighborhoods hiring private security. An excerpt:

Other neighborhoods with long-established private security, such as Eastover and Belhaven, also have upgraded their level of service to full-time, with at least one guard on duty at all times. Many residents said the consistent presence of a guard makes them feel more secure.

John Lewis, president of the Belhaven Security Association, said residents probably make seven to eight calls for security a day. But that doesn't mean they are all in regards to serious crimes.

"Many are house checks or walk-ins (when a guard escorts a homeowner inside)," he said.

But other common calls are for car burglaries and suspicious people. About six months ago, a call about two men walking down a Belhaven street - one was carrying a chainsaw - resulted in the recovery of stolen property, Lewis said. "The guard quizzed them and found they had picked (the chainsaw) up out of somebody's garage," he said.