Rock Creek Hills Neighborhood Watch – Training/Info Session – Mon., 10/17 7:30-8:15 pm

As announced during the RCHA meeting last week, the RCH Neighborhood Watch will conduct a training / information session for participants and street captains on Monday, October 17 @ 7:30 – 8:15 pm. It will take place at 9806 Hillridge Drive (home of Paul Tiao and Varuni Dayaratna). If you are interested in attending, please email Paul at [email protected] so that we can plan appropriately.

As summarized in the Fall RCHA Newsletter and as reflected in Steve’s crime updates on the RCHA list-serve, there is a steady flow of property crimes in our community – mostly car break-ins, car theft, and burglaries. This past summer, two dozen of your neighbors decided to do something about it. We met several times to figure out how to deal with the problem, and developed the following goals:
– Greater community-wide awareness of suspicious / criminal activity
– A wider and deeper network of support in the community for each other in the event of a snow storm, hurricane, floods, downed trees, or power outage.
– Stronger community cohesiveness
– A closer relationship with the county police and elected officials.

Our strategy for achieving these goals is to encourage residents to join the RCHA list-serve and to develop a network of street captains who will reach out to 10 – 15 of their immediate neighbors. In early August, we trained a dozen captains. Next Monday, October 17, we will do a second training / information sharing session for people who are interested in participating in the Watch or volunteering to be a captain.

Neighborhood Watch street captains do the following:
– Talk to 10-15 of their immediate neighbors and encourage them to participate in the Watch
– Provide participants with Watch decals that they can put on their doors or windows
– Share information with participants about recent criminal activity, public safety tips, and how to identify suspicious activity
– Encourage participants to report suspicious activity to the police and to the RCHA list-serve
– Identify vulnerable residents who may need assistance after a major storm
– Identify residents with emergency response skills and equipment who are willing to help vulnerable residents during times of need.

We hope that you will be able to join us for the training / information session on Monday, October 17th.

Paul Tiao & Eden Durbin
Co-Coordinators