Neighborhood Watch
I’m Ed Rataj, the chairman of the neighborhood watch. I am writing this to introduce myself and to give you an update on the neighborhood watch program in Nakoma.
In the last few months the neighborhood has been fairly quiet. Previous to this there were several reports of cars being broken into in and a few incidents of vandalism to cars and one house.
This appears to be the work of kids because only change or items of minimal value were taken, and the cars were unlocked.
Let’s address this. If something like this happens to you tell your neighbors and alert your neighborhood watch block captain. It is also important to file a report with the police. This way we can get an idea of how widespread the situation is, and the police can arrange to spend more time in our neighborhood.
I want to stress that these were crimes of opportunity. It was easy to break in. We all want to feel safe in our neighborhood, but remember to always lock your cars, garages, and especially your homes. The police recommend keeping porch lights and yard lights on at night as well.
There were two incidents that occurred which were more serious. In one situation a home was robbed. While there were a lot of rumors about this circulating, the fact is that the police asked me not to initiate a “call down” because their investigation showed that this was a specifically targeted crime and that there was no threat to any other homes in the neighborhood. The second incident involved a man who awakened to find an intruder in his home. He chased the intruder away. This incident was not reported to me for several days. By that time the incident did not meet the police recommended guidelines of “imminent threat to personal safety.”
A “call down” is the activation of a phone tree where every house in Nakoma is called and alerted to a possible threat. The police have asked that we reserve this for “serious, imminent threats to personal safety,” such as an armed criminal in the neighborhood.
To handle the task of alerting residents to other incidents the police have suggested setting up a group email list. This would allow news of importance to be distributed in a quick and easy manner. This email list would only be used for the neighborhood watch. If you would like to be a part of this list please send me an email with “neighborhood watch” in the subject line. Include your name and address in the body. I am also asking the block captains and residents to make a point of introducing themselves to each other over the next several weeks. If you do not know your block captain it is listed in the Nakoma handbook. Residents without email can still be contacted by phone.
The best way to keep our neighborhood safe is to use common sense and to know your neighbors. If anyone would like to contact me my home phone number is (608) 232-0099.