Mr. BUTTON. I thank you very much and wish you well. And as the other members of the committee have said, we certainly want to be able to try to help you in the very admirable position which you are taking personally. We wish you well.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Mr. Finn.

Mr. FINN. Mr. Alexander, you indicated you were getting good cooperation from the police. Is there anything you can tell us that might by means of our hearing record be conveyed to your fellow businessmen that would encourage people about what the police can do, to encourage them to come forward?

I am sure there are many victims that are afraid to discuss it with

anyone.

Mr. ALEXANDER. Well, Counsel, I imagine this is true. I know that this is true. A lot of people in business do not happen to be in the position that I am. It isn't that I am being foolish, gentlemen. I realize the risks that are involved. I realize the people we are talking about that we will have to deal with would have no more compunction about doing whatever they could to me than they would possibly about swatting a fly, and these people that have families, have relatives, yes; they would be reluctant under certain circumstances to come forth to talk. Some of them have more courage and will do it, I would imagine, if they were given the knowledge of how our group operates with the help of the police department.

Now, there is a plan in the police department, that the police department has in effect that will enable any man, businessman, that is threatened to get in touch with a unit that has been set up in the police department and—if I stammer and hesitate, it is simply because the plan is more or less of a secretive nature and I wouldn't want to divulge it promiscuously, let's say. It might lose its effectiveness.

Mr. HORTON. What you are saying, there is a plan. As people go to the police they do have some effective means to help them.

Mr. ALEXANDER. This is right. Maybe there are a lot of people unaware of it-well, I know there are, because we only learned of it when this committee was formed of ours. Then the police department came in and explained the workings of the plan, how it can be used most effectively, and this is the way that these two people were apprehended when they attempted to extort in our area.

Mr. FINN. Thank you.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Any further questions?

(No response.)

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. I want to thank you, Mr. Alexander. It was quite a story and hard to believe. I assure you as chairman of this subcommittee, I will do everything possible.

I want every member of the Small Business Committee, yes; and the Members of the Congress to hear your story. Thank you again. You are a great American.

Thank you, Bob Dwyer.

Mr. DWYER. Thank you.

Mr. ALEXANDER. Thank you.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. The next witness will be Sgt. John Kearns, of the Oakland, Calif., police department.

TESTIMONY OF SGT. JOHN G. KEARNS, OAKLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT, OAKLAND, CALIF.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Sergeant, it is a pleasure to have you before this committee, and I know you have traveled a long way.

Do you have a prepared statement for the committee, or

Mr. KEARNS. Yes, I do.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Has it been distributed to the committee?

Mr. KEARNS. I was instructed only to bring one copy.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. You can either read the whole thing; your prepared statement, or we will file it, put it in the record in its entirety and you may summarize it.

Now, you do whatever you want. If you want to read the prepared statement, you do that.

Mr. KEARNS. Well, if I may, I would rather read the prepared state

ment.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Go ahead.

Mr. KEARNS. All right. The Oakland Police Department has been actively engaged in a formal crime prevention program for several years. Recently we created a preventive services division within the department. This division consists of a crime analysis unit, building security unit and a field crime prevention unit named the special operations section. Three city ordinances have also been enacted to assure the adoption of crime prevention measures by citizens in the community. One ordinance requires that keys to the ignition system of the automobile be removed and that the ignition be locked when the car is unattended. The second ordinance requires certain car lots to have a security chain across the egress area of the lot. The third is our burglary prevention ordinance which requires minimum standards of physical security for certain types of commercial establishments.

The Oakland Police Department realizes a prevention program is only effective if there is active community interest and participation. With this in mind, the department has a four-way approach to the crime problem. One is through the patrol officer on the street, another is our preventive services division, a third through the news media, and finally a program of educating the youth of the city.

The patrol officer on the street is made aware of the crime hazards on his beat by daily and weekly information compiled by our crime analysis unit. The unit studies and compiles reports regarding crime trends, crime patterns, and methods of operation. When the crime analysis unit identifies a specific crime problem and studies indicate the problem cannot be handled by the patrol officer, the special operations section is deployed in the particular area to work with the business owners and residents to eradicate the problem. The building security unit inspects the premises within the area, makes specific crime prevention recommendations to the proprietors, and conducts followup inspections to insure that the recommendations are followed by the owners of the establishments.

The building security unit enforces the burglary prevention ordinance which sets minimum standards of security for commercial establishments in the city. The unit receives and evaluates all commercial burglary reports to determine if any security deficiencies exist in the building which was burglarized. If defects appear to exist, the building

is inspected by the unit, recommendations are made, and followup action is taken to insure the building meets the minimum standards of the ordinance. The unit is notified of newly proposed buildings by our city building permits department. The applicant is given a copy of the ordinance at the time he applies for a permit. A copy of the permit application is sent to the building security unit. A followup inspection is made to insure the new building meets the code requirements. The building security unit maintains a file of the businesses they inspect and of businesses experiencing burglaries and robberies.

Three studies conducted by the Oakland Police Department in 1967 indicate our burglary prevention program does minimize a businessman's potential of becoming the victim of a burglary. Sixty-nine companies that complied fully with the security recommendations in 1963 experienced a 91.8-percent decrease in unlawful entries over a 5-year period. The 118 companies that also complied in 1964 showed a 88.3percent decrease in their burglary experiences during a 4-year period. A sampling was taken of 34 businesses that were inspected during 1964 and 1965, but did not fully comply with the security recommendations within a reasonable time. One-half-17-of the businesses in the study complied with the security recommendations prior to June 1, 1967. Only five of these 17 businesses experienced a total of seven burglaries in 1967. Of the 17 companies that did not fully comply, 16 had illegal entries in 1967 for a total of 37 burglaries. Those businesses which did install the recommended security measures had dramatic decreases in burglaries, while those which did not comply continued to experience burglary problems.

An insecure premises report is also utilized by this department. A patrol officer who finds a security defect on any business premises completes this report, leaves a copy at the building, and forwards a copy to the building security unit. If it is an aggravated case, the building security unit will investigate the matter. If not aggravated, a day shift patrol officer will contact the business management at the establishment, relate the nature of the defect, and make appropriate recommendations to effect better security.

The results of the followup investigation by the patrol officer are forwarded to the building security unit for inclusion in its insecure premises file.

During the development of our burglary prevention program, the department found that very few businessmen had given attention to the installation of physical security as most were depending upon the police and their insurance policy to protect them from loss. It was also found that few officers within the police department had knowledge of what types of security devices were available to the businessman to help him protect his property. Members of the building security unit contacted manufacturers of security devices, met with their research and development staffs, and found that here was a great variety of security equipment available to the businessman. The manufacturers were very receptive to any ideas that would assist them in development of better security devices to meet the needs of the public. Armed with this new knowledge, the building security unit contacted the various business organizations and individual companies and showed them what could be done to better protect their property. The response from the business community over the subsequent years had been very gratifying.

Our experiences have indicated to us that the best way to assure the community they are getting the best possible protection for their money is through legislation. The Oakland Police Department has established a coordinating committee consisting of representatives from eight major insurance companies, the lock industry, the fire marshal's office and members of the police department. This committee is in the process of developing model physical security ordinances for all structures. The committee determined that the pooling of the knowledge and experience of each of the groups is required in order to develop a practical set of standards which will meet the needs of the entire community. Once a model crime prevention code has been established, it is anticipated that representatives from the alarm and insurance industries, locksmiths, building and hardware industries, police, and fire marshal's office will form a permanent committee for the purposes of upgrading the field of crime prevention in all areas. Representatives from these organizations have already expressed interest in forming such a group.

The police department has developed other programs aimed at assisting the businessman in his crime prevention efforts. In our robbery prevention program we recommend the "buddy system." Under this system a liquor store may have an alarm button connected to a grocery store next door or up the street. If the liquor store is robbed, the proprietor would signal the grocery clerk who would then call the police, step out to a safe position where he could view the liquor store and see the suspect when he leaves, obtain his direction of flight, and possibly identify the car he used. If the grocery store is held up, the liquor store clerk reciprocates. The police department has also established the "merchant alarm." The alarm is paid for by the merchant and is connected directly to the police radio room. The alarm is used when the merchant has a potential robbery, theft, or vandalism problem.

For example, if 10 or 20 juveniles enter a store and appear as though they might cause trouble, the merchant activates the alarm. The radio room notifies the officers working the area. The officers respond immediately because it is not known if the alarm is notification of a serious crime or amounts only to a feeling by the merchant that something may happen.

The education of the general public by means of radio, television, and other news media is used in our overall crime prevention program. A speaker's bureau within the department presents the prevention program before various merchant service, social, and professional organizations. We attempt to educate youth in crime prevention methods by presenting puppet shows at the elementary schools and by talks and displays at the junior high and high schools.

We have, as our goal, the development of a climate in which businessmen and homeowners, particularly, and the public in general will assume a substantial share of the responsibility in the vital task of crime prevention in the city. The attainment of such a goal is, and will be, a long and slow "educational" process. However, our experience thus far with our crime prevention efforts gives cause for optimism about the results.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Does that complete your statement ?

Mr. KEARNS. Yes.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Mr. Horton, any questions or comments?

Mr. HORTON. Sergeant, I want to thank you for coming and especially coming from the long distance that you have.

I am impressed with what you are doing in Oakland. Have you found that this has had some dramatic effect with regard to the prevention of burglary?

Mr. KEARNS. Not only burglary, sir, but the entire crime problem. What we have done really in essence is start changing the attitudes, where the people in business and the residents start assuming more and more of their duty of crime prevention.

We no longer get the thing, "Well, the policeman, it is your fault that we had a crime."

They are starting to assume their share of the responsibility.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. You heard the testimony of Mr. Alexander. I am sure that must have impressed you greatly with respect to the courage that Mr. Alexander has with regard to extortion in the Chicago area. Mr. KEARNS. Very much. We do have similar problems in Oakland. Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. What do you do?

Mr. KEARNS. I am not at liberty to discuss that.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. But do you have some type of program in your police department for that also?

Mr. KEARNS. Very definitely.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Have you found a good receptance for this program?

Mr. KEARNS. Very much so. In fact, where we used to have to go out and solicit our business, so to speak, now the business people are calling us and requesting us to come out even when they are moving into a new structure.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. You talked about the "buddy system." Has this system been actually utilized and has it actually worked?

Mr. KEARNS. It has been utilized. Fortunately, we have not had a situation where those that are participating have had to use it.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. What are the means of bringing this program to the attention of the residents? Do you actually have policemen out and talking to the merchants about it?

You mentioned the speakers, I think. You have a little booklet here, I think, that you must have put up here, that has to do with the

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. What means of dissemination of this information do you use to get it to the merchants?

Mr. KEARNS. At the time the ordinance was first developed, we did an extensive selling program where we met with all of the merchants and groups, and service groups, and explained to them what we hoped to attain by developing such an ordinance. By the time the ordinance came to be passed, there was not one objection at the final meeting. Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Thank you very much. Sergeant, how many police personnel do you have on the security division?

Mr. KEARNS, I have actually two men out in the field working on the commercial security aspect of the program. I have four men assigned to it.

Mr. KLUCZYNSKI. Is your ordinance mandatory? What happens if a businessman does not obey the ordinance?