September 28, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Crime fighting is her game

by Kenneth Seli

For 22 years, volunteer Eleanor "Perky" Perkins has been helping fight crime with the Palo Alto Police Department.

In recognition of her dedication to crime prevention, she recently received the Volunteer of the Year for Northern California award from the California Attorney General's office.

Perkins, who loves her Volkswagen Bug and collecting E.T. movie memorabilia from around the world, also volunteers with Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, Palo Alto Neighborhood Disaster Activities (PANDA) and her condo association. The Weekly sat down with her recently to talk about her new award and about her role in the fight against crime.

Q: How did you find out about the award? Did they surprise you?

A: Yes, it was very sweet. The volunteer coordinator who is working at the station asked me to come over to the chief just to give her a background on what my jobs were.

So we went into the conference room, and there were all the officers standing around with the chief. ...Then she read me the letter from the Attorney General's office saying that I'd been chosen for this award.

The ceremony was in Palm Springs so I went (two weeks ago) to get the award.

Q: What got you into volunteering for the Palo Alto Police Department?

A: Well, there was a notice in the utility bill in 1983, in December, looking for people who would like to volunteer at the police department.

(The) chief at that time saw a change coming from the '60s and early '70s where people and the police were -- because of Vietnam -- more confrontational, and he was moving into having more educated police and working more with communities. I really wanted to support that.

Q: What different jobs have you been doing at the police department?

A: I started out in support service. I worked there for two years, and it was mostly typing stuff. And then, I went into field services for a year, and I don't even remember what I did there. I was hired by two detectives in burglary, property crimes and investigative services, and that must have been about 18 years ago, and I've been there ever since.

Basically I take care of the files. I also keep track of stolen vehicles that are recovered by other police agencies. I get the materials together for the detective in case there's going to be any follow up, whether they have anyone in custody, whether there's any evidence that they can follow or if the other agency is following up on that.

Also CHP and AAA give an award for recovery of stolen vehicles ... so I am in charge of that program.

Q: Have you ever been a victim of a property crime yourself?

A: Yes. I worked at Stanford between my bachelor's and my master's for a professor. This was a time that electric typewriters were the thing, and someone broke into our building and stole all the electric typewriters -- and my pool cue. The nice part of that story was that the professors got together and got me a new pool cue.

Q: What do you think of the city's desire to build a new police building?

A: It's a desperate need. ... It's been ordered by the grand jury who has said there are actually dangerous conditions there. ... I'm very, very strong in the sense that this goes above and beyond everything, maybe except in conjunction with the infrastructure of the things under the street. Sewers and police department, I think, are really important.

Q: Outside of your volunteer work, do you have a general interest in crime?

A: I read mysteries; I am an avid mystery reader. I like Agatha Christie and P.D. James, but I also like things that they call the cozies, which are English stories. They come in packs; you can go through five of them a week. They're just fun. And sometimes they'll have these minute-mystery type things and I do enjoy those.

Q: How do you characterize your neighborhood, and how did you come to live here?

A: Barron Park is special. Everyone says their neighborhood is special, but this really is a special neighborhood -- it's rural. We want to keep it basically rural, hoping that new folks that move in realize we don't have sidewalks for a reason.

I moved to Barron Park (after getting a master's degree in education at Stanford) and stayed in Barron Park in three locations -- this is my last. They'll cart me out of here.

Q: What's the biggest change you've seen at Barron Park and Palo Alto as a whole?

A: Building huge houses in teeny lots. And if that wasn't bad enough, when they build the big house, they don't make it complementary to at least fit the architecture of the houses around it. They really kind of destroy the whole feel of the neighborhood.

Q: What would make Palo Alto better? What can people do?

A: I think it is kind of happening. There's been a resurgence of neighborhood associations. I think one of the ways to get your neighborhood together or your street together is having community crime prevention.

The other thing that we need to have abound at the same time is (residents thinking) that they are part of the City of Palo Alto, because if everyone keeps pushing for their piece of the pie and doesn't see the city as a whole, that's not good either. So activity in your neighborhood (is needed), but (also) remembering the whole.

Q: What hot tips do you have for people who want to prevent property crimes?

A: One of the biggest things, and people are definitely doing this, is shredding stuff -- anything that comes in the mail to you, anything that might be sensitive so that it cannot be put out and taken. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime right now, so do anything you can to protect yourself from identity theft.

Let me just add one more thing, because it bothers me how much people leave things visible in their cars when they get out. Everyday when these cases come in, I say, "How can you leave that in your car?" Anyone can break a window and get into your car. So don't put things in your car that are valuable.
Over the Back Fence is an occasional feature of the Weekly's Neighborhoods section, spotlighting noteworthy neighbors and asking for their views on life in Palo Alto. To recommend a neighbor for the section, contact Neighborhoods Editor Jocelyn Dong at (650) 326-8210 or jdong@paweekly.com.

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