Welcome new faces and tips for new neighborhood watch recruits!

Good morning everyone!

We wanted to take an opportunity to welcome all those who have recently joined us here on the blog and let you know that there are several ways you can keep up with us, and report any news about what your street group is doing or let us know what sorts of problems you are having in your area.

Important Areas of the Blog

First of all, we'd like to point you to the top areas of our side links and encourage you to follow us on Facebook if you use social media often, or enter your email address on the right sidelink so that you can receive blog updates right your inbox. As administrator's we cannot see your email address or anything else about information you share in that format, so please feel safe in knowing your email address is secure. Following the blog by email lets you not have to remember to check back to the website manually, and compiles the posts in an easy to read format.

Next, we would absolutely invite you to take a look at our Helpful Links and Important Dates area over on the left sidebar for important updates and great resources for you and your neighbors to utilize in our efforts to stay safe. If you have any suggestions on additional links or know of something important you'd like to share with your neighbors, please email Carmen or Olivia (our email addresses are on the left under Lead Coordinators). To the right, we would like to point out the Street Groups & Important Info area where you can find pages that link to Neighborhood Services Phone Lists and our Park Watch Incident Report page. Anything that you notice that is out of the ordinary, suspicious behavior, vandalism, etc,  or have reported to the Parks Dept or the Sac Sheriff's Dept. in connection with the park, we would like to keep track of at this page. Please use the comment section to let us know of any problems on these pages, or email us and we'll gladly place your concerns and reports on the appropriate page. We use these incidences to make our case for requesting ranger hours to police the park and help us motivate Carmichael Rec and Park District folks to stay vigilant about protecting our lovely neighborhood park. All reports sent via email or though your street coordinators will be screened to remove personal information, or sensitive details so that we protect your privacy, but keep your neighbors aware of problems nearby.

Finally, if you are a street coordinator, we would be very happy to share news, meeting agendas, contact information etc on the Street Groups pages on the right sidebar. Please just contact Carmen or Olivia, and we'll gladly help spread the word about whatever your street has got going on :)

Thinking of Starting Your Own Neighborhood Watch

First and foremost, three cheers for you!!! Being a neighborhood watch street coordinator is an amazing way you can really give back to your neighbors, help keep your community safe and strong, and learn a lot about what is going on in Carmichael and the Sacramento region. There are a lot of resources out there to help you get started, but we're just going to give you a few links to start your search and let you know you can contact us for questions on how to get yourself up and running.

Here is our current map of street groups that are active or are in progress. Wouldn't it be great to see this whole map be green? Check out these links from our local Sacramento County Sheriff's Dept. website for some helpful information, talk to your neighbors, plan a meeting, and lets make this happen :)

http://www.sacsheriff.com/crime_prevention/documents/neighborhood_watch_03.cfm

http://www.sacsheriff.com/crime_prevention/documents/neighborhood_watch_02.cfm

http://www.sacsheriff.com/crime_prevention/documents/neighborhood_watch_04.cfm

http://www.sacsheriff.com/crime_prevention/documents/neighborhood_watch_05.cfm

http://www.sacsheriff.com/crime_prevention/documents/home_safety_09.cfm

Thoughts With Those in Boston

I wanted to extend my heartfelt thoughts to everyone out there after the terrible events of this afternoon in Boston. It's tough to not see acts of violence and terror as reasons for fear, but it's one of the most important things I think we can do right now as we cherish those we love-not give in to fear. I'm sharing this tonight here because I think it's a relevant topic on a site where we communicate primarily about feeling safe in our community, and hope you find time to read it when you can.Good wishes to you all.


Excerpt from The Atlantic:


As the details about the bombings in Boston unfold, it'd be easy to be scared. It'd be easy to feel powerless and demand that our elected leaders do something -- anything -- to keep us safe.

It'd be easy, but it'd be wrong. We need to be angry and empathize with the victims without being scared. Our fears would play right into the perpetrators' hands -- and magnify the power of their victory for whichever goals whatever group behind this, still to be uncovered, has. We don't have to be scared, and we're not powerless. We actually have all the power here, and there's one thing we can do to render terrorism ineffective: Refuse to be terrorized.


http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/the-boston-marathon-bombing-keep-calm-and-carry-on/275014/

How to Keep Informed!

Just wanted to point out to those of you who visit our little blog that you can sign up on the right sidebar at the top to receive updates via your email or an RSS news feed, depending on your preference. This way you can keep track of what's going on here without having to remember to constantly check back with us.
***Just for piece of mind about your privacy, If you choose to follow this blog using RSS feed or email, I do not have access to your email address, IP address, etc.and cannot tell who is following the blog or not from these methods.***

I also wanted to point out two very helpful apps if you have a smartphone that was shared during the recent Sheriff's meeting at Del Campo High School. If you have a smartphone or tablet, check out CrimeReports app and the TipSubmit app that will allow you to check the local crime statistics anytime and even submit an anonymous tip to local law enforcement right from your phone without having to talk to anyone! Definitely do not use the Tip Submit service when reporting crimes in progress, but it's an excellent resource if you see graffiti or drug oriented behavior while out and about.

Wishing you all a dry, warm, and safe rest of your evening.