Atwater Village Neighborhood Watch Meeting

Mark Your Calendar!

Atwater Village Neighborhood Watch Meeting

December 13, 7:00pm

at the New Hope Chapel (behind Best Buy)

PLEASE ATTEND!

If we want to improve our local public schools, we must also look at their surrounding environment. All residents in Atwater should be involved in eliminating gang violence and creating safer neighborhood.

The following is an email from Barry:

Dear neighbors--

A bunch of you have written with your concern about the frequency of the police helicopters of late. It seems like a nightly occurrence. They are not being proactive. The police are responding in the best way they are able to the current rise in gang violence in our community. There has been a definite increase in graffiti, gunfire and robberies. I appreciate your emails and phone calls. And I pass the information on to Gina Chovan, our SLO. And, in some cases, to Kabira and the staff at CD13. There have been reports of shootings, streets being blocked off and traffic being interrupted because of gang violence. There was even an instance where a concerned resident saw someone throwing a large bottle (or bottles) off the Hyperion Bridge, onto the freeway. I don’t think he hit anyone— we would have heard about it. But the resident had the where-with-all to take a picture of the suspect, which I sent along to Gina. Most of you have cell phones. If you have the camera feature and you see something, shoot it. It will help!

There are things you can do to minimize your risk. They seem obvious, but sometimes we get lazy or falsely complacent.

• Keep your porch light on at night
• Lock all your doors and windows at night and when you are not home
• If you see anything—or anyone—unusual or suspicious, call it in— 1-877-ASK-LAPD
• If it is an emergency, call 911

The most important thing is that we all have a safe and happy holiday season. This is an especially challenging time. Keep your eyes open and your head up. Being aware is probably the best defense. Also, please... your neighbors may not have email— they may not be on the list. Let them know what is going on. Exchange phone numbers. Watch out for one another. That is what being neighborly is all about. I may sound overly concerned, but it is because I am!

Finally, for now, our last neighborhood watch meeting for 2006 will be Wednesday, December 13th. I’m giving you all advance word. Please mark your calendars and try to attend. You may have missed some of the meetings in the past, but this one is an important one. We will share information and learn what is going on. We will also take a few minutes to honor who I am referring to the Atwater Village Neighborhood Watch “Person of the Year.” Curious as to who it is? Join us and find out!

I will send out a flyer in a week or so.

Thanks!