Neighborhood Watch Meeting | Church of the Good Shepherd | 7.14.09, 1900

[JaxNole]

Just received a flyer in my mailbox this evening.  I'm too lazy to scan, but not lazy enough to type:

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We're Organizing a Neighborhood Watch

In response to a significant increase in burglaries and other property crimes, Riverside Avondale Preservation is helping to organize a Neighborhood Watch program for the following area (approximately 20 blocks):

All blocks north of College Street to I-10 that are located between Stockton Street on the west and Margaret Street on the east are included.  (Please see map on reverse side).

Where:
Church of the Good Shepherd (located at the corner of Stockton St. & Park St.)
The meeting will take place in the Worsham Room (enter parking lot from Forbes St.)

When:
Tuesday, July 14th at 7 PM.

Who should attend:
We need all interested residents - homeowners & renters - at the organizational meeting.

Please also consider if you are willing to serve as a Coordinator, Assistant Coordinator(s) or a Block Captain (a brief description of these key positions are provided on the reverse side of this flyer).  The time requirements are minimal (3 to 4 hours a month) but the rewards are great as we work to make Riverside "crime free".

Prevent Burglaries and Property Crimes:

• Burglaries can happen at any time, but recent trends indicate they are occurring in greater numbers between the hours of 9 AM and 3 PM while homeowners and renters are at work.
• Many victims who were burglarized believe they were being watched by burglars to see when they left for work.
• A common tactic in daylight burglaries is to kick in a back door for a quick entry.  They may also kick in a front door or enter through a window.
• Witnesses report that burglars sometimes travel through alleys.

We know that police resources are limited.  The best solution is a well organized Neighborhood Watch that can help prevent crime.

If you can't attend the organizational meeting but would still like to participate, please e-mail us at info (at) riversideavondale (dot) org.  Please use "Neighborhood Watch" in the subject line of your e-mail and be sure to give us your name and phone number.

(RAP logo)

[JaxNole]

[doglover]

What about all of us on the other side of Stockton?!?!?!

[DetroitInJAX]

Yeah, what about everybody off the Park St. corridor?  Just the other day, I had my GPS stolen out of my car and a few CDs...  That same night, my neighbor reported someone had broken into her back garden shed.  The next night, my downstairs neighbors came home and noticed that someone had knocked over their flower pots that sit near the windows, as if they were trying to peer through the broken blinds, and 2 doors down my other neighbor called the police after she saw someone prowling between homes on the street in the dark..  All of this on Osceola between Park and Herschel.  We think whoever it is may be living in one of the two abandoned multi-family eyesores just off Osceola on Park, when you're traveling toward Five Points, theyre on youre right..

This is crazy, seems like we've got ourselves a regular crime wave!

[mtraininjax]

1) Get a dog, 2) Get a baseball bat, 3) get a gun, and take lessons.

This month's RAP newspaper says that on any given day there are only 5-7 officers covering from I-10 South to the Clay line between US 17 and the river, on any given day. Says there are 15% fewer officers and the JSO now works 11.42 hours per day, so resources are getting stretched and the signs are that they will get worse....

[JaxNole]

The current Neighborhood Watch will serve as a model that will be used to establish programs for the entire Riverside Avondale district.  The district covers a large area, so we are working on developing a program that is useful, engaging and scalable. 

Certain crimes have been trending downward as of the latest month's of JSO's unofficial statistics for June (violent: -22.73% from May 2009, robberies: -33.33% from May 2009), while others are trending upward (burglaries: +34.21% from June 2008; all property crimes: +13.64% from June 2008).

JSO has advised a maximum of seven officers are dedicated to patrolling the entire area of Sector J as of May 1, 2009.  Even less discouraging is the district's subsector, J-1, has one dedicated resource. 

 
View a full-sized map. 

Everyone is encouraged to request, if not insist, an officer to submit a report when a crime is reported to aggregate data that substantiates the need for greater resources.

This underscores the need to make our neighborhood less inviting to criminals.
Low- to no-cost examples to help curb crime:

• Decrease visibility of your home's interior from the street
• Lock all doors and windows
• Maintain your property, block and street:

• • Repair or replace broken windows and fixtures

• • Mow the lawn

• • Pick up litter

• • Call 904.630.CITY for code enforcement issues

• Remove valuables from easy view of your home, car and property
• Establish relationships with your neighbors
• At night, keep your exterior lights on and switch to CFLs to save on energy consumption and costs

We have highly involved volunteers working on the pilot Neighborhood Watch's foundation and we will expand coverage once we are confident in its effectiveness and infrastructure.

For more information, PM me or contact me through various methods in my profile.

[NotNow]

Thanks, JaxNole, for your help and activism against crime in your neighborhood.

[Lucasjj]

I live on Herschel at Osceola and someone broke into my car Tuesday night. It was my fault because I think that I didn't lock my doors because there didn't seem to be any signs of forced entry, but they only stole some change.  They just rummaged through my glove box and console, but only got some change. It seemed they were not that hard up though because they only took my silver coins and left all the pennies. In all, they got less than a dollar.

[DetroitInJAX]

Well howdy neighbor!  Looks like you made out better than me..

[macbeth25]

I don't live in your area but I've been noting the amount of problems Jacksonville seems to have.  I'm very pleased with your Neighborhood Watch program and wish you well with it.  I was a “block captain,” and also was in another program.
I lived in San Antonio for about 20 years and the police and the residents have developed another program I've harped on in other threads. 
You probably have already heard of it and may be planning to try something similar.  If not, please take a look at the San Antonio Cellular on Patrol program: http://www.sanantonio.gov/sapd/cop3.asp. 
Some posters advocate "getting a gun" and getting lessons.  I agree with your right to get a weapon to protect yourself and your family but I'd like to remind you of the ending of an old Dragnet show with Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon. 
California law required the return of a stolen weapon to its registered owner.  The mother in this case did not want the weapon in the house but the father insisted.  After the weapon was returned, the last scenes in the show are of the little boy with the loaded weapon in his holster busily engaged in a game of quick draw with his little sister.
Some of the weapons used for "home protection" these days are so powerful they will punch through a wall quite easily.  If one of your neighbor’s children is walking by outside, you might even kill them and what about that baby living in the next apartment? 
I also liked Morgan’s “suggestion” in the same show that if you wanted a weapon for home defense, you should have a shotgun.  “It’s very unlikely that anyone will try to take it away from you, and if all else fails, you can always hit someone with it.”
God be with you and Irish Blessings be upon you and yours.  May those causing problems be gifted with the Irish curse, a part of which I’ll mention here: that they are afflicted with itching without the benefit of scratching.  If you’d like to know the rest of the curse, Google “Irish Blessings and Curses” on the Internet. 
I will not participate in a discussion on gun control or any related subject except to say God gave us free will.  Upon your own head be it.