New Haven Independent

John Prokop, head of security for the Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH) (pictured here with Dickerson), Monday introduced Securitas, the new security service for the HANH’s eight high-rises housing approximately 1,100 elderly and disabled New Haveners.

Some 25 showed up at meeting at the Charles T. McQueeney Apartments on Orange Street to munch and donuts and chew over the new security arrangements. According to Davis and Dickerson, the new service has come not a moment too soon. “We have a lot of traffic in our building, including a lot of undesirable people. I’m at the desk in the lobby from 12 noon to 4, and Trudy’s there from 8 to 12, a shift before mine. But that’s about it. People leave the door open, and others follow in. There’s drug dealing, we know the apartments, but what can you do? We can’t call the cops. Then what? They often don’t come right away, and we live there. They call us ‘the troublemakers,’” Dickerson said, but with a touch of pride. “Of course we tell the management, we tell John, and he tells us they’re working on it but it takes time to evict people. We’re looking forward to this new service.”

Prokop introduced Bill Miller (to the left), branch manager for Securitas, and Robert Sherman, one of the company’s supervisors, to explain what residents can look forward to. Each of the high-rises in the HANH system will have a uniformed presence, a guard on duty, based on unique patterns, needs, and police crime reports. Most shifts will begin after 3, some going 10 to 6, some 8 to 4, some 12 to 6 in the morning, all when the building attendants like Dickerson and Davis - there are about 50 in the entire system - are off-duty.

Kristina Zallinger, a resident at the McQueeney Apartments, said, “We have real problems in this very building too. We know there’s drug dealing. On the first of the month they’re lined up in front of some of the apartments on this very floor. They’re buzzed in. Up to now the people downstairs don’t have an authoritative presence, and they sometimes leave the latch open. I’m really looking forward to this change.”

One woman, who asked not to be identified except as a member of the block watch at Abraham Ribicoff Cottages, wanted to know if she comes home late and there is drug-dealing in front of her building, will the Securitas guard escort her up to her apartment?

“Absolutely,” said Prokop. “But you will know the number of the Securitas supervisor, call them, or call me. They’re to provide a monitoring service without jeopardizing residents.”

The lapse in uniformed service, Prokop explained, had to do with the previous service’s employees not showing up and then billing HANH nevertheless. Prokop, a former New Haven police officer and head of security at Southern Connecticut State University, fired the company. Securitas has a built-in system so that its guards are tracked. They must call in regularly.

There was much allaying concern Monday of residents who, based on past experience, saw many no-shows. “If there’s a problem,” Prokop said, “we’ll massage it. But this firm is flexible, reliable, and they work for us.”

Securitas is a conglomerate based in Sweden. It does all aspects of security from guarding housing projects to investigations, according to Miller. Over the years it has acquired American security companies including the famous Pinkertons. They pride themselves, Miller said, on low turnover of staff.

Another resident wanted to know what they should do when the guard went out to lunch. “Our guards are entitled to lunch, but they eat on the premises,” Miller replied.

“Can they arrest people?”

“Absolutely not,” said Prokop. “But they are eyes and ears, a presence, and they and we are working with all the district police managers. Remember that in addition to the guards at your buildings, whom you will get to know, there are is always a supervisor, in a vehicle, checking up on things. There is now a new important new level of security.”

“Remember this, however,” he reminded the residents. “The biggest problem in high-rises is people walking in behind residents or residents buzzing in people they should not.”

Prokop, who took the security helm in January 2006, has already made several major changes, increasing lighting significantly at various project sites and installing security cameras. He promised more improvements, and specifically to address this issue of admitting unwanted people.

As of now, visitors enter one of HANH’s high-rises and dial a number; the person in the apartment can talk to them and let them in or not. However, often residents might not want to let the person in and might not even want to make voice contact if they don’t know who they are. Or maybe it’s a relative putting pressure on them. “These things happen. For that,” Prokop said, “we are already working with Comcast so that a designated channel on the TV will function as a monitor, and the elderly residents in the buildings will, once they are buzzed, be able to turn on the channel and see who’s downstairs. We’re going to provide this, through Comcast, and free of all charge to our residents.”

That’s a ways in the future. For now, he reminded them, “still it’s the resident himself or herself who has to take responsibility.” That’s not new news to building attendants Margaret Davis and Trudy Dickerson.