Neighborhood Watch Needs You

We are happy to announce the official formation of the Creekside Natomas Neighborhood Watch.

Started by a small group of concerned neighbors who are interested in maintaining a high level of safety and security in Creekside, the watch group had its official kickoff this Fall, and over the past two months held a series of informative workshops led by Community Safety Officer McCray. The workshops focused on personal, auto, and home security. City officials have pledged their support to assist in making this Neighborhood Watch a reality. But as residents of this community, we need to keep up our end of the bargain to make it a success.

We must take action and get involved.

The wonderful thing about a Neighborhood Watch, is that it doesn't require any additional time or commitment. It simply requires us to "Look Out For Each Other." Here are a few simple steps that you can make to impact the safety in Creekside:

1) Listen to your senses, and ACT.

When you see something suspicious or out of the ordinary, report it. Every time. No matter how small, it may be just the piece of information needed to help law enforcement officials put together the puzzle. And, as we all know, Creekside is vying against all the other neighborhoods in North Natomas for law enforcement presence and surveillance. The more incidents that are REPORTED, the more law enforcement support our neighborhood will get.

• Emergency: 911
• Police Non-Emergency: 264-5471
• Crime Alert Tip Line: 443-4357
• City Operator (General Info): 264-5011

2) Look Out for Each Other (and exchange information with your neighbors).

The best crime prevention network you have is right next door. And across the street, and on the street behind you, etc. Who knew living so closely to one another could actually be an asset? When it comes to deterring and reporting crime it is. In a neighborhood where no one looks out for each other, criminals have it easy. The only people they need to worry about are those who they are attempting steal from, assault, etc. But in a neighborhood with an aggressive Watch, every house is a potential informant, and we have them surrounded!

• Take 5 minutes to exchange information with the neighbors in front, behind and to the sides of you. Not only is it nice to know the names of the people who you're living so close to, but if you see something suspicious, you can alert them as well. Bottom line is, if a neighbor sees a suspicious person peeking around my yard, I want them to be able to call me (after they call the police) and notify me.

3) Use Common Sense and Be Aware of Your Surroundings!

A large percent of crimes happen as a result of people not paying attention to their surroundings and not using common sense. Here are a few tips to consider for improving your safety:

1. Take a Lap: When arriving home in the evening, drive past your house and take a quick lap around your block. Take notice of anything suspicious that may be going on around your (or your neighbor's) home.
2. Pull the shades: The holidays are here, and after all the effort of decorating our homes, we want to show them off right? Night time during the holidays is the perfect time for criminals to take inventory of valuables in your home. With the lights on inside, you can't see outside! So, please draw the curtains and pull down the shades at night. If you must show off your home during the holidays, make sure it's the outside.
3. Garages and Car Locks were made for a reason: With the recent spike in car break-ins, it seems appropriate to remind everyone of 3 things we should all be doing anyway.

• USING OUR GARAGES. Cars parked in the street not only are more suceptible to vandalism and theft, but they create terrible hazards to the children playing on our streets.

• REMOVING VALUABLES: It's pretty simple. If you don't, they will.

• LOCKING OUR CARS. While very cute and fairly clean, our neighborhood isn't the set of "leave it to beaver" or "father knows best". If you leave valuables in an unlocked car, please don't be surprised if they aren't there in the morning. Of course, if we all just followed the first of the bulleted reminders, we could leave our cars unlocked with valuables in them to our heart's content.

Finally, the reason I love this blog, is because it provides a forum for neighbors to engage in open dialogue and share their thoughts about what makes Creekside a great place, and what can make it better. What I've found is that our small community is very vocal and passionate about our quality of life. With that said, I encourage all of you to take your passions a step further and get involved in the neighborhood. We are a 100% volunteer group. So without neighbors rolling up their sleeves to get involved in both small and large ways, this association doesn't exist. So I urge you, please get involved. Attend a monthly association meeting or join the Neighborhood Watch. If for no other reason than to stay informed about what is going on in the neighborhood, it will make a world of difference in Creekside.