Neighborhood Watch
What is Neighborhood Watch?
Neighborhood Watch is an active crime prevention program where neighbors make a commitment to each other to look out for each others property and safety in an organized effort between the neighbors and the police. Working together we can help reduce most crime and illegal activities, and bring about a sense of community to our neighborhood.
The best crime prevention device is a good neighborhood. The security steps you and your neighbors take as a group are just as important as the things you do individually.
The Neighborhood Watch program operates on the concept that effective crime prevention requires cooperation with law enforcement. Neighborhood Watch is "neighbors looking out for the welfare of their neighbors." It is a coalition of citizens who are concerned about the neighborhood where they live and are willing to become involved in the betterment of their community.
It takes three ingredients to make a crime: desire, ability, and opportunity. Take away any ingredient and the recipe will fail; there will be no crime. Properly locked doors, neighborhood awareness, reporting suspicious persons or activity, identifying your valuables, all deprive the would-be criminal of an easy target.
It is only by working together that we can truly be effective in our fight against crime. Do your part to deny the criminal the opportunity to commit any crime.
Why do we need a neighborhood Watch?
It is obvious that the police cannot be everywhere and see everything. The police need us to be their eyes and ears when they are not around. We need to call the police when we see a crime take place or suspicious activity in our neighborhood. We know what suspicious activity is because we live in the neighborhood. Many times the police cannot stop or arrest a suspect unless a citizen makes a formal complaint. It takes a neighborhood to get involved and look out for each other.
In a neighborhood watch, neighbors make a commitment to each other to call the police when they see a crime take place or suspicious activity in their neighborhood. After they call the police, they should notify the block captain of the activity. The information is passed along to all in the neighborhood so everyone can be made aware. Criminal activity affects everyone so everyone needs to keep an eye out for each other.
Captains
These captains are associated with the Irving Neighborhood Watch program. Each captain is responsible for the streets listed with his or her name. The IHDNA supports this program and and is always looking for volunteers to serve as Block Coordinators. Contact Bill Herod if you can serve in any way and thanks to all who have served over the years of the program.
Report any non-emergency suspicious activity yourself to the Irving Police Department by filing out an online report or by calling 972-273-1010.
Bill Herod
Eric Lackey
Robyn Howard
|
John Spurgin
Bill Holcomb
Dianne Cartwright
Jerri High
Terri Keats
Mike Little
|
Telemarketing Fraud Tips
Callers claiming to represent everyone from police officers to the disabled take advantage of the public’s sympathy and generosity to the tune of billions of dollars each year. They also offer chances to earn enormous profits from no-risk, high-yield business and investment opportunities, miracle cures for everything from baldness to cancer, vacation homes, sweepstakes prizes, etc. Be suspicious of all solicitors, especially if the caller:
- Says you have won a prize but asks you to send money first or provide bank account information.
- Says you have to act right away. Remember, if it’s a good deal today it will still be a good deal tomorrow. Don’t let anyone rush you into signing anything.
- Fails to identify the sponsor, uses a variation of an official or nationally-recognized name, e.g., Salvation League instead of Salvation Army.
- Offers to have someone pick up a cash payment from your home.
- Says he or she is a law enforcement officer who will help you for a fee.
- Requires you to attend a sales meeting.
- Directs you to dial a pay-per-call 900 number.
- Delays the delivery or a product or prize, etc.
- Says he or she is calling from the Security and Fraud Department of your credit card company and asks you for the 3-digit security number on the back of your credit card to verify your possession of the card to aid it in a fraud investigation.
- Says that Medicare now requires a National ID Card and offers to provide one for a fee.
- Says he or she is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
agent or official and that you must pay a fine because you have
bought or attempted to buy discounted prescription drugs from a
foreign pharmacy. Report such calls to the FDA Office of
Criminal Investigations at (800)
521-5783
