However, Animal Care Services official acknowledges that outdated information may have skewed the results
In Los Alamitos, animal control officers may be averaging a Priority One call response time of 18. minutes to respond to Priority One calls in Seal Beach. However, a computer error has skewed the data.
“It is important to note that we impose a goal of 20 minutes or less for our Priority One Calls (including categories 1, 2 and 3,),” according to John Keisler, business manager for Long Beach Animal Care Services.
The Long Beach agency has a contract to provide animal control services to Los Alamitos.
Keisler provided the response time information based on responses to 182 calls for service in Los Alamitos between October 1010 and January 2011.
“However, there are a few calls—particularly in Category 3 that have been—open for over 10 years that we need to identify and clean-up … probably the result of the transfer of data from our old mainframe system last year,” Keisler said.
The same skewed information applied to data concerning animal control response times in Seal Beach that appeared in the Jan. 27 issue of the Sun.
Unfortunately, the Sun Newspapers did not receive Keisler’s message about the data error until after the Sun went to press last week.
“We just moved the system over this past year and are cleaning up tens of thousands of individual records,” Keisler said.
“This is skewing the response times for sure … so we are going to try to identify these outliers and confirm that the issues have been resolved,” Keisler said.
As Keisler explained it, the term “Priority One” applies to the top three of six response categories. The top three are: a person in danger, an animal in danger and next available officer—a term applied to a lesser priority call that has been bumped up at the discretion of a supervisor.
A category one call would include assisting police or fire personnel or dealing with a coyote stalking call. A category two call might involve a suspected coyote attack, a coyote attack on a pet, a follow up on an animal cruelty call or an animal cruelty investigation.
According to Keisler’s data, there were five “person in danger” calls in Los Alamitos in the period under review.
The response time for those five calls ranged from 11 to 26 minutes. Statistically, the Long Beach Animal Care Services arrived in less then 20 minutes 50 percent of the time during those five calls.
There were eight “animal in danger” calls during the same period. Animal control officers took between 7 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes to respond to those calls, according to the data. The average response time for an animal in danger call in Los Alamitos: 33 minutes.
Crime Log Assembled by Charles M. Kelly
The crimes listed in the Sun Newspapers were reported to Seal Beach Police Department, Los Alamitos Police Department and Orange County Sheriff Department between Jan. 17 and Jan. 29, 2011.
Only street names are used; times given are reported times, not incident times. Crime Log entries are based on preliminary information. Space limitations make it impossible to publish every incident. Until proven guilty in a court of law, all suspects are considered innocent.
IN SEAL BEACH
Monday, January 17
Welfare Check—11:24 a.m.—Harbor Way and Bayou Way—The caller said a man in his 70s was sitting on a wall. The caller didn’t recognize him and thought the man might be lost or confused. Police unit 117 arrived at the scene and determined no further police services were necessary. The man was apparently picked up by his son, who had been working down the street.
Vehicle Burglary—4:09 p.m.—Seal Beach Boulevard—Loss: a third row seat. The crime apparently occurred between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. that day.
Tuesday, January 18
Disturbance—4:52 p.m.—Seal Beach Boulevard—The caller reported a woman with an infant begging for money in front of a store. The caller was concerned about the welfare of the 3-year-old the woman had with her. Police unit 117 contacted the woman and advised her against begging for money. She said she would comply.
Wednesday, January 19
Suspicious Occupied Vehicle—4:40 p.m.—Electric Avenue—The caller reported a male in his late teens in a vehicle. He reportedly asked questions of the caller and looked at a specific address on Electric. Police unit 217 found an individual waiting to pick up his sister.
Friday, January 21
Found Property—9:40 a.m.—Ocean Avenue—A citizen walked into the police substation by the Seal Beach Pier and dropped off a pellet gun.
Suspicious Person—1:53 p.m.—Ironwood Avenue—A young man described as a teenager was reportedly going door to door, insisting he needed to shake people’s hands.
Police unit 116 advised him about soliciting business without a permit.
IN LEISURE WORLD
Monday, January 17
Attempted Burglary—9:22 a.m.—Golden Rain Road, Mutual Unknown—The crime apparently occurred over the weekend.
Counseling—4:40 p.m.—Del Monte Drive, Mutual Unknown—A resident contacted police concerning calls from scam artists.
The resident never sent the money, but was upset about the number of times the scammers are calling.
Tuesday, January 18
Suspicious Circumstances—10:32 p.m.—Del Monte Drive, Mutual Unknown—The caller thought someone might be on her porch.
Police unit 216 contacted the resident, but was unable to locate a suspect.
Thursday, January 20
Burglary Report—6:38 p.m.—El Dorado Drive, Mutual Unknown—The caller and his wife discovered that some of their property was missing the previous night. Report taken.
Suspicious Circumstances—8:41 p.m.—El Dorado Drive, Mutual Unknown—Someone rattled the caller’s screen door. Report taken.
IN LOS ALAMITOS
Friday, January 21
Burglary—6:46 p.m.—Los Alamitos Avenue—Police detained a suspect in the theft of two cell phones.
Sunday, January 23
Burglary—12:34 a.m.—Vicksburg Circle—A husband and wife reported that a man, possibly intoxicated, was yelling and attempting to enter their residence through the window. The man was arrested.
IN ROSSMOOR
Monday, January 24
Suspicious Person in Vehicle—8:37 a.m.—Walker Lee Drive—Two individuals described by as a citizen as “not known to the area” were detained.
The deputy determined there was nothing suspicious going on and released the individuals at the scene.
Suspicious Person in Vehicle—10:29 p.m.—Martha Ann Drive and Brimhall Drive—A deputy detained an individual, determined nothing suspicious was going on and released the individual.
Wednesday, January 26
Suspicious Person in Vehicle—12:18 p.m.—Channing Way—The vehicle was gone by the time a deputy arrived.
Friday, January 28
Suspicious Person or Circumstances—9:22 a.m.—Donnie Ann Road and Donnis Road—A deputy detained an individual, determined nothing suspicious was going on and released the individual.
Identity Theft—2:40 p.m.—Brimhall Drive—Report taken for identity theft. No further information was available.
Saturday, January 29
Suspicious Person in Vehicle—12:03 a.m.—Wembley Road—A deputy detained two “lovers,” but did not note anything suspicious.
Petty Theft Report—12:47 p.m.—Montecito Road—The theft was apparently from a vehicle. No further details were available.
IN SUNSET BEACH
Monday, January 24
Grand Theft Report—10:20 a.m.—Bayview Drive—No report desired by person reporting the incident. No further details were available.
Friday, January 28
Drunk Driving—10:55 p.m.—10th Street—The Orange County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a drunk leaving the liquor store in a vehicle and heading southbound on Pacific Coast Highway. A deputy patrolled PCH, but was unable to locate the vehicle.
Saturday, January 29
Disturbance, Mechanical—1:30 p.m.—Pacific Avenue— An individual was flying a remote control airplane on the beach. The individual was advised to stop.
Disturbance, Music or Party—1:58 a.m.—14th Street—The disturbance was quelled.
Shelley Henderson of the News-Enterprise contributed to this article.
