Neighborhood Watch
Neighborhood Watch Expands
By Dave Conway, April 2009
Officer Courtney Thibault provided a short training session on Neighborhood Watch at our February General Meeting, and Westlawn's Neighborhood Watch added many new members as a result. These new members are essential for maintaining the vitality of our Neighborhood Watch, and we all appreciate the work of both new and old members alike.
If you see the patrols driving or walking by, be sure to give them a wave and express your support. Neighbors helping neighbors is what the Watch is all about.
Being a Good Neighbor
By Dave Conway, January 2009
Neighbors looking out for each other is the essence of Neighborhood Watch, which is much more than crime prevention and patrolling in cars. Westlawn continues to modernize, with online patrol schedules and feedback reporting, the option of scheduled or random patrols, and the option of walking, bicycling, or driving patrols. So what do Neighborhood Watch members do when they patrol?
Help neighbors. Call 911 for people under medical distress, alert neighbors to cars with lights left on or garage doors left open at night, help lost children find their way home, return lost pets to their owners, and move piled up newspapers and phone books out of site for homes where people are gone.
Monitor the neighborhood. Report graffiti, abandoned cars, unmowed tall grass, squatters in vacant homes, street light outages, and trash appliances left near the curb with doors still attached, and verify that home improvement projects have the required permits from Fairfax County.
Report suspicious criminal behavior. Call the police about people casing cars on the street, people checking door handles and windows of homes, and people displaying lewd, inappropriate, drunk, or disorderly behavior.
Many of you already do some of these things, so joining our Watch could involve nothing more than reporting online a brief summary of your patrols. More importantly, we have found that people who participate in Neighborhood Watch feel empowered to contact appropriate county authorities by virtue of their membership in the Watch. Please come to our training on 10 February and help keep Westlawn one of the best neighborhoods around!
Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Needed
By Dave Conway, June 2008
For many years, Westlawn has benefited from concerned residents who have volunteered to schedule monthly Neighborhood Watch calendars for members of the Watch. As much as they like helping out the community, it is time to step down and let a younger resident(s) take over the scheduling duties.
If you like the benefits of being in a neighborhood with regular Neighborhood Watch patrols and can maintain a schedule each month for about a dozen or so patrollers, please give me a call at 703-237-8572. Without your help, we will lose this valuable resource.
Making Westlawn a Nicer and Safer Place to Live
By Dave Conway, September 2007
Do you take walks or bicycle rides in the neighborhood, walk your dog, sit on your front porch, or drive through the neighborhood on the way to and from home? If you know what types of suspicious activities or hazardous situations to look for, you could help make the neighborhood safer. All it takes is a short training course of less than one hour that the Fairfax County Police offers free to residents at least 18 years old to become a member of Westlawn's Neighborhood Watch.
The upcoming dates for training at Mason District Station are 2 October and 4 December at 7 p.m. No need to sign up—just show up at the Station and ask where the Neighborhood Watch training is taking place. Kathy and I took the training in September and contacted Westlawn's Neighborhood Watch Coordinators—it was that simple!
Flexibility is a key feature of Westlawn's Neighbor-hood Watch program. Some of our current members work out a schedule ahead of time with one of our two Neighborhood Watch Coordinators, while others like to go out whenever they want with no prior scheduling. Either way, the only additional task is to email or call one of the Coordinators as to when you were on patrol and anything noteworthy that came up, such as a malfunctioning street light.
Watch may be performed by vehicle patrol (a driver and an observer), walking, bike riding, or observing from the home. Watchers are observers and are prohibited from any type of confrontation with individuals. When an activity is reported to the police it is the police who decide on what action, if any, is to be taken.
At the present time there are only about 20 Westlawn residents who do vehicle patrols and several who also do walking patrols. We need more members. Please attend one of the training sessions and then register with one of our Watch Coordinators: Jules Meszaros at 703-532-4586 or Burl Siemers at 703-534-6155. You can make a difference!
You Are Needed
By Dave Conway, September 2006
Westlawn Neighborhood Watch is a group of neighbors who care about the area we live in. Neighborhood Watch is an important crime deterrent. When criminals can see patrols at almost any time of day or evening, they generally try to stay away from those areas.
Westlawn Neighborhood Watch needs more members. When you sign up for the Watch, you need only to attend one training session. These usually last for about an hour and explain to you the things to watch for and how to report. When anything unusual is seen, the patrol calls the appropriate police number and reports it. No other action is ever taken by a patrol.
If you can spare as little as one hour a month to help make our neighborhood a safer place, please contact our Watch Coordinators: Jules Meszaros at 703-532-4586 or Burl Siemers at 703-534-6155. Thank you!
Park and Trail Watch
By Mason District Crime Prevention Officers, September 2002
The Park and Trail Watch is a sister organization to Neighborhood Watch with the same goals and objectives. Whereas Neighborhood Watch volunteers patrol in their residential community, the Park and Trail Watch volunteers do the same in parkland areas.
The Fairfax County Police would like any Neighborhood Watch patrollers who also frequent some of the parks in our county to become a member of the Park and Trail Watch. It is necessary to participate in a training session to become a formal member. At the completion of the training, volunteers are awarded a Park and Trail Watch hat and whistle and are ready to report on duty.
If anyone is interested in volunteering, they may attend a Neighborhood Watch training session at the Mason District Government Center.
United for a Stronger America
By Mason District Crime Prevention Officers, April 2002
The President tasked his administration with making the United States a stronger, safer place to live. Toward this objective, the Attorney General issued a call for a "National Neighborhood Watch." He said "Neighborhood Watch deters criminal activity and helps protect American families. Our children are safer, our homes are more secure, and our communities are stronger when Americans participate in community policing."
The National Crime Prevention Council has prepared the guide "United for a Stronger America: Citizens' Preparedness Guide." To receive a free copy, call the Council at 202-466-6272. You also can download it from www.usaonwatch.org (click on the Citizens Corps link and select the last item). Photocopies also are available at the front desk of the Mason District Station.
Now is an excellent time for Westlawn residents to join our Neighborhood Watch. We can use more people for driving patrols, bicycle patrols, walking patrols, and window watching. Patrols are equipped with cell phones for calling the police if they observe any suspicious activity. If you would like to know more, please contact Jules Meszaros on 703-532-4586 or Betty Drexler on 703-534-9006.
Registration for Security Alarm Systems
By Burl Siemers, December 2001
It is a requirement that all security systems that are installed within Fairfax County must be reported to the Police Department within 30 days of installation. The form to be completed may be obtained from the police. This form indicates such information as who should be contacted in case of an emergency, the type of alarm, and the address of the business or residence.
Burglary Trends
Home burglaries in Mason District follow patterns that are common throughout the area. Almost all occur during weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., with Friday as the most popular day. Some involve forced entry, but many occur through unlocked windows and doors.
Crime Prevention Tip
Keep your cars locked when parked on the road or on your driveway to keep grab-and-go thieves from taking advantage of an easy opportunity to steal something from your car.
Items in the glove box, tools in the trunk (for cars with trunk release levers), even county stickers are at risk from walk-by thieves who are looking to take things without forced entry. If your car is going to be parked for an extended period during the day or overnight, please keep it locked with the windows up!
Citizen's Advisory Committee
The Citizen's Advisory Committee (CAC) is formed by the citizens who volunteer as an advisory group to the Mason Police Station Commander. This committee provides a forum for the Captain to hear about the needs and concerns of citizens who work or live in Mason District, and for feedback to the community. The CAC meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at the Mason Governmental Center. Meetings are over at or before 9:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend these informative meetings.