Last Thursday, the St. Viator Catholic Community Women’s Guild hosted an information session on safety and fraud protection, presented by Associate Paul Hartz, who is a law enforcement officer.
Paul breaks down the “crime triangle” and invites guests to focus on reducing crime opportunity.
Paul shared several practical tips for everyday situations. For example, what should you do when you get a phone call from an odd number? “When you get a call from an unrecognized number, let it go to voicemail – there’s no reason you have to pick up. When you get a message, take your time and double-check claims and information. And you never have to give a quick answer to a high-pressure question,” Paul said.
What if a similar situation occurs at your home? “If people knock on your door, don’t answer. Let them leave a flyer,” Paul said. “And most importantly, legit vendors will never ask to come inside. People will buy things such as Amazon vests at Goodwill and use it as a ploy to get themselves into your house. If you answer, only talk to people at your doorway.”
Paul is a lieutenant for the Las Vegas Department of Public Safety Deputy City Marshal Unit, which works concurrently with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Drawing on his decades of law enforcement experience and expertise, he also recommended some best practices for increasing everyday safety: motion-detection lights on your home, camera doorbells to record visitors, Wi-Fi garage door openers with apps to ensure your door is shut, and removing garage door openers from cars parked outside during long absences, which can attract car break-ins that lead to home break-ins.
Paul has played a lot of supportive roles in St. Viator Parish School and Catholic Community, including traveling to the Viatorian Youth Congress with parish VYC delegations like these in 2012 (top) and 2025 (bottom).
Paul and his wife, Associate Rosy Hartz, who leads youth ministry and faith formation at St. Viator, have been associates since 2009 and St. Viator parishioners for even longer. Paul hopes that hearing this helpful information from a familiar source will help people take meaningful steps. He reminded them that criminals’ desire and ability is out of everyone’s control, but reducing criminals’ opportunities is something we all can do.
While sometimes there is a big separation between Paul’s life at work and at church, he welcomes some crossover. “At other places, when I’m in uniform, I’m Lieutenant Hartz. But whenever I walk into a room at church, I’m Rosy’s husband,” Paul said. “I do enjoy taking my tools and my gifts and bringing them back to my community. It’s not always the law enforcement side, like when I’m helping with youth group or VYC, but it’s fun to bring that part of me here and help out in this way, too.”