WHAT IS NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH?

Neighborhood Watch is simply a program of neighbors watching other neighbors' property during times when burglaries are likely to occur.

A police officer patrolling your neighborhood may not recognize a stranger in your yard - but your neighbors would!

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS DO THIS:

Write down the description of suspicious person(s). Get the make, model, color and license number of strange vehicles. Call the sheriff's department (911) and your Neighborhood Watch Area Block Captain immediately.

IF YOU ARE GOING AWAY...

Leave the following information with a trusted friend or neighbor:

1. Where you are going.
2. How you can be reached, in case of an emergency.
3. When you expect to return.
4. If anybody will be at your home... a gardener or repairman, etc.

• Stop newspaper and mail deliveries, or arrange for a neighbor to pick them up.
• Make arrangements to have your grass cut and watered while you are gone.
• Store extra cash and valuables in a bank safety deposit box.
• Arrange for a neighbor to watch your house. Give them a key, and let them know where you can be reached in an emergency.
• Notify the sheriff's department.

What To Do When Your Neighbors Are Away

• Know exactly when your neighbors are leaving and when they will return.
• Collect any newspapers, mail and advertising circulars if they are delivered.
• Make a daily check of the premises. Inspect all windows and doors.
• Don't tell any inquiring strangers that your neighbors are away on a trip.

DOES IT WORK?

Neighborhood Watch works through mutual aid --neighbors watching out for neigthbors. Neighbors know who you are and what type of car you own. They may be the first to notice a burglar at your window, or a strange car in your driveway. But, remember, each neighbor can effectively watch only homes to each side, and to the front or back of his home.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY - CALL 215-2432

EMERGENCIES - CALL 911

DEVELOP YOUR DEFENSES...
NEVER GIVE A BURGLAR AN EVEN BREAK!

Neighborhood Watch Program

It's A Good Idea To Be A Nosy Neighbor

Looking out for your neighbor's house while they look out for yours is one of the best ways to help law enforcement protect our entire neighborhood.

The Neighborhood Watch program is designed to make you and your Hickory Woods neighbors aware of what you can do together to make your homes safer.

It is a good idea to talk with your neighbors and exchange information. Be familiar with every member of their family and the cars they drive. Then you can easily spot and report strangers or suspicious activities around their house. They will do the same for you.

In order to see intruders better, keep your houses and yards well lighted at night. Keep doors and windows clear of trees and shrubbery.

Tell each other when you're going away. But, don't tell others who don't need to know. (You can't always trust your hairdresser.)

Being a nosy neighbor is not always a bad idea. Neighborhood Watch can make your neighborhood a much safer place. The Sheriff's department is helping Hickory Woods organize the program in your area, the department will be glad to assist you.

The Neighborhood Watch Program begins with Operation I.D. and conduction of a Security Survey. These combined aproaches further deter crimes such as burglary (breaking into a home to commit theft) and larceny (stealing private property). This effort makes our neighborhood a high risk area for potential criminals.

Operation l.D. is a program to mark and identify valuables. When you do, you get a sticker to place in you window. This is to deter the criminal from homes which display the official warning label. You record the description and model numbers of items, their serial numbers, or your personal identification number engraved on the items, and, if necessary, you take and keep photographs on file so the items can be identified if they are stolen and then located through a case investigation.

The Security Survey is conducted by an officer who will visit your home and give tips on maintaining tight security around the home. High risk areas will be determined and suggestions made on locks, doors, windows, all entrance ways, lighting, landscaping, and alarms. The basic techniques of conducting a security survey can also be taught to neighbors who may in turn teach their neighbors how to conduct their own surveys in a community.

OPERATION ID: We plan to renew this program of identifing personal property. The HWHA purchased an engraver, but it has since lost its way around. If you have the engraver, please notify HWHA Chair Theresa Baldwin. Her phone number is in the directory. We would like to make it available so you can engrave your TN Driver's License number onto your property.

You may also call John or Dixie Andrews and borrow their engraver. Their phone is in the directory, or use e-mail for John at hwha@discoveret.org. John also has a couple of short video tapes provided by Allstate. Call or e-mail and you can view them. They cover much of this material, but are worth the time to view.

Forms and brochures are available from Teresa Baldwin at 777-1461 and stickers are available for your windows/doors when you participate. If you have completed "ID-ing" your property, there are a couple of stickers available now. We'll request more.

LATE HOUR LOITERERS: Contact police (911, AND SAY IF IT IS AN EMERGENCY OR NOT) if you notice teenagers (or anyone suspicious) wandering around your street after reasonable hours. The Sheriff's Dept. is glad to check on kids who are away from their homes at late hours. Many times, the parents are not even aware that they have sneaked out. Don't hesitate to let law enforcement know about an unusual situation.

BLOCK AREA DIRECTORY: A Watch Directory listing the addresses for each block area is in your printed Neighborhood Directory. Please refer to the current directory to contact captains for info.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH MEETING ON November 1, 1999.

WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THESE PEOPLE FOR THEIR PRESENTATIONS AT THE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH MEETING:

• Nancy Brown - Education Specialist with the Knox Co. Sheriff's Dept.
• Ben Harkins - Officer and Captain of the West Sector with the Knox Co. Sheriff's Dept.
• Michael Kirrman - Loss Prevention Specialist with Fleenor Security Systems
• Amy Pearson - Security Consultant with Fleenor Security Systems
• ..... AND Mike Fleenor for volunteering his staff to make home security information available.

There are two Crime Prevention Specialists in the Knox County Sheriff's Department, Gail Coker and Melinda Ford. Miss Coker, who has been with the department since September of 1977, is classified as a Crime Prevention Officer. She has attended the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy in Donelson, Tennessee and the National Crime Prevention Institute in Louisville, Kentucky. Officer Coker has also attended and participated in a number of other crime prevention seminars and activities.

Melinda Ford has been with the Knox County Sheriff's Department since October 1980. She has been with the Education Division as a Crime Prevention Specialist since January 1981. She has attended various training seminars including Crime Prevention through Environmental Design sponsored by the Knoxville Police Department, and a crime prevention seminar in Bristol, Virginia, sponsored by the Virginia Division of Justice and Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension.

Join the e-mail list...

If you'd like to be placed in the HW e-mail group to be alerted of Watch News, click here to send your e-mail address to hwha@discoveret.org.

Check in from time to time at www.korrnet.org/hwha/nwatch.htm for current information about neighborhood security. Use the MINDIT button for an automatic reminder of any changes.

Spring Notice about Loitering Teens!

Pres. Theresa says:
"I have received a few calls from some homeowners in the 600 area of Hickory Woods that have some concerns already, now that the weather is warming up that there have been unfamiliar teenagers in the that area late when its dark and they are not sure what there are up to. One homeowner went out late one evening and chased them away so, we need to be aware, especially in areas where there are no street lights, of what is going on around them. It would be a very good idea to start leaving front porch lights on at night if you have them and consider putting some in if you don't." Theresa

Webmaster says: "Join them and they will go away by themselves. It has worked for us in other neighborhoods. The presence of adults makes the area too busy for kids to hang out in. It really works. You don't have to be angry and order them out, just join the group, preferably with some other neighbors and the problem will solve itself."

Don't let Spring Fever get the best of you!

With the weather becoming nicer, we'll be out in our yards more often, putting the screens back up and keeping windows open.

Remember to lock the doors and windows that you won't be able to see from where you are working. If you head to the front yard to continue gardening and you don't have a fenced in area, the back door becomes an easy way for someone passing through to dart in and take a purse or a wallet that's within easy reach.

We all have quick errands to run sometimes and we forget that we've left the door, windows or our garage doors open or unlocked. Even if you're only gone five minutes, things can disappear. Lock up if you leave the house. Don't give thieves a break.

Just a few reminders....have a safe and happy spring! CK

After the new year, Becky Laramie and Theresa Baldwin will begin working on more street lights for the subdivision. They welcome feedback from anyone who feels their area is darker than it should be at night and who would like to have a street light in front of their home. Street lights are placed on existing poles and may be placed on the street side or the home side of the pole. The cost of installation is $25, which the Homeowners Association is willing to pay. The monthly charge for the electricity and light maintenance is $5.50 which the homeowner pays. This is a small price to pay for added security. The monthly fee is added to your regular electric bill. You can call Theresa or Becky or you can send an e-mail to the WebMaster to get the ball rolling. To send an e-mail to the HWHA web page click WEBMASTER.

Co-Chair Baldwin sent this on Dec. 3 1999

Charlotte,
I called the Sheriff's Dept. and talked to Chief Ron Chamberlain about more patrol in our area as a result of all the disturbances we have had. This officer was very cooperative with making sure that more patrol did in fact happen. Also, he said that if anyone would like to have someone come talk to them from the Sheriff's Department, we should call Captain Ben Harkins at 215-2656 (central number). 675-3210 is his office number in Farragut Town Hall. They were very helpful and very supportive of this goal. I am copying John so he could add this to our web page. I will tell Cindy to add this to our newsletter also.

Thanks,
Theresa

John posted it the same day!

Charlotte Klasson, then our Neighborhood Watch Chairman, sent this to all e-mail addressees on Nov. 10, 1999:
"I'm recommending to all Hickory Woods residents to begin coordinating your Christmas vacation security plans NOW. Every area needs to determine confidentially who is away and who will be around to pick up newspapers, mail, packages, and box stuffers, and make periodic security checks of doors/windows.

NOTE: Block Captains can have brief meetings to stablish a map of who is available during the holidays.

If you don't have light timers, buy several so that different rooms throughout your home will have lights coming on and off.

And DON'T FORGET the luminaries on Christmas Eve. Get yours ready early so you can deliver them to a neighbor to set them out. (Make sure the sand is dry.) Participation will imply homes are not vacant afterall.

Some areas of Hickory Woods may have as a few as 3-4 homes where someone will be around during the holidays. This is important to address BEFORE mid-December in case other arrangements need to be made.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

• Immediate neighbors
• House sitters
• Local family or friends
• Trusted teenagers

Webmaster says:
"Don't broadcast your vacation or Christmas plans to the crooks!"