In every annual report, we compare statistics from one year to the next to see where we are and where we can improve. There are many things that we definitely need to celebrate and some areas that need review and increased efforts.
First, the celebrations:
- 36 North College Park Residents have been on a least one patrol in 2014.
- 36 North College Park Residents gave up 484.5 hours of their year patrolling our streets.
- 3 new volunteer patrollers were recruited.
- We alerted our neighbors that their garage doors were open 346 times.
- The number of reported criminal mischief events declined from 6 events to 2!
For those that gave up their time, we thank you so much and we encourage your continued participation in 2015.
John LaGreca has done an awesome job coordinating our monthly meetings and for reminding us to patrol. Thank you John!
Now for the “not so good” news:
- In 2014, we patrolled our neighborhood 70 hours less than in 2013. A 12.5% decrease!
- The number of home burglaries in 2013 was 2 while in 2014 it was 5. Not good!
- The number of vehicle burglaries in 2013 was 5 while in 2014 it was 6. Up slightly.
To be fair, our crime watch patroller patrols usually take place during the daylight hours and some of the crimes occurred during the night. To relate the increase completely to fewer patrol hours is not fair. But, it does raise some concerns.
My family has lived in North College Park since 1978. We have met and continue to meet wonderful people. We have attended many family celebrations and I have even officiated at marriages. It is a great place to live and thrive.
For North College Park Neighborhood to continue to be a safe and desirable place to live, we need to keep our patrollers out there on the streets. An hour or two each month of patrolling is our goal!
We want to celebrate and encourage more participation. All Crime Watch Patrollers and their partners are invited to attend a party at the home of Doug & Cheryl Freeman at 1004 Rainbow Drive on January 17th at 6:30PM. Pizza will be provided by the North College Park Neighborhood Association along with soft drinks. If you would like to bring an adult beverage, please do so. We will be recognizing patrol partners and individual patrollers for their efforts during 2014.
You may not be a Crime Watch Patroller now but if you have an interest in taking a class and becoming a Crime Watch Patroller, we want you to join us. Please come to our North College Park Crime Watch Patrol Celebration and get acquainted!
Please RSVP to Doug Freeman at d1004free@aol.com or call 972-690-0844.