GENERAL MEETING - 

The next General Meeting will be November 17, 2009 at 6:30 P.M. at the Police Department on Creighton Avenue. This will be our last General Meeting for the year. We will next meet in January 2010. The holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, are always filled with busy schedules, family gatherings, shopping and travels, that we deviate from our problem solving meetings, but that doesn’t mean that you should let you crime prevention measures drop off. If criminals are waiting nearby for opportunities, a concentrating mindset focusing on one point only may be the factor that will present that opportunity. PLEASE remain alert to all of your surroundings.

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CCW LOSS –

“She was secretary of Concerned Citizens Watch, …”as it was written in the obituary in October. Nancy was much more than a secretary. She was one individual on our list of special people that gave her total efforts to CCW. Her pride at being a CCW member and her commitment help CCW attain its goals placed her on this list. She was always one of the first to volunteer for our special patrol projects, the Halloween Zoo Patrol being her favorite. Concerned Citizens Watch was not the only organization to benefit from Nancy’s presence. Her neighborhood association and her neighbors and friends are better for her efforts. She was a fighter for what was right whether it was for people or for animals, so not only CCW has lost a treasure, the whole Fort Wayne community has a vacant spot for a special person to fill. And as we have done in the past, we will build upon her efforts so that her pride will live on.

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CRIME REPORTS –

I often wonder how many of the residents of all of the many neighborhoods read the “Crime Reports” listed in the Sunday Journal-Gazette. If you are not informed about the types of crimes happening within you area, you cannot begin to take preventative steps against them happening to you. And the more current your information is the better your chance of not becoming a victim of the crime. The “Crime Reports” are listed each week, which makes them fairly current.

The following information was taken from the last three weeks of “Crime Reports” and I am hoping they will give you a wake-up call. They were 293 reported crimes for the three-week period, of which 146 were burglaries. That is 49.8 percent, which totally shocked me and hopefully it will shock you. “Theft from vehicle” crimes were 93 or 31.7 percent. Robberies had 30 for 10.2 percent and an estimated 75 percent of them happened after dark. One area had twelve burglaries reported one week for 100 percent of the crimes listed in that area.

We must keep in mind that “theft from vehicle” crimes usually don’t have risks of personal injury to the victims. Burglaries can have risks involved if the victim returns home while the burglary is in progress. Robbery always has personal risk of injury because it is a confrontation between the victim and the criminal and almost always has a weapon involved.

The holidays are coming. The economy is atrocious. Need I say more? I can accept the “theft from vehicle” percent even though I don’t like it but the burglary and robbery crime percentages absolutely scare me to think of the many victims they will incur. Please remember some of the crime prevention measures we have listed in the past: put lights on timers when you will be away at night, solicit neighbors to make tracks in any fresh snow during your absence and watch for packages left on your door step or porch, keep the valuable contents within your house out of sight from an uncovered window. Never place packages in your car when someone nearby can be watching. This is also the season for donation solicitations. The scam artists may not produce physical injuries, but the mental anguish is there.

MAY YOUR HOLIDAYS BE SAFE AND FILLED WITH JOY!!!!