Neighborhood Concerns

Responsible Land Development:

Tree laws on the rise

The lost of Tuscaloosa Forest

  Going Batty! 

Bat Conversation International

Bugs: Nature's Bug Patrol

The Backyard Bat Page

Noise Pollution

Loud noise

Dog Barking

Crimes Against the Elderly:
Durham Sheriff's Department has specifically assigned Ernie Mills to work on crimes against the elderly.

Community Life Court.   City departments can take "slum-lords" to court to enforce compliance with "quality of life" ordinances.   Also new commercial code goes into effect this fall.

"Safety... In Numbers"

Durham Working Together for a Safer Community

"Safety...In Numbers" describes a month-long initiative undertaken by the City of Durham to involve the citizens and community organizations in ways to prevent and address crime of all types in the City.   The initiative comes after the City experienced its 16th homicide Father's Day Weekend.   While this increase in homicides is part of a national trend and not exclusive to Durham, the City has chosen to respond by seeking input from the community and using that information to strengthen the City of Durham's community programs and its Police Department's law enforcement programs and services.

Components:

Coordination of Community Organizations Efforts and Resources:   The Mayor's Office recently sent correspondence to several community organizations requesting that they provide information about their goals relating to preventing and responding to crime in Durham.   The mayor will report on responses received from these organizations on August 1, 2000 at the National Night Out Kickoff.

Town Meetings:

Town Meetings have been scheduled throughout the City to meet with citizens face to face to hear their suggestions on how to abate crime and violence in their communities.   The City of Durham will funnel this information to City of Durham administration and to existing resources within the community, including Partners Against Crime and other community organizations, to put suggestions into action, when possible.

Schedule
Sat., July 15 10 a.m. to noon Lyon Park and Hillside High
Thurs., July 20 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Durham City Hall & Eastway Elem.
Sat., July 22 10 a.m. to noon Durham City Hall & YE Smith
Tues., July 25 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Herald Sun Community Room and Holmes Rec. Center, Campus Hills

Town Meetings (and other related events) will be advertised in the following ways:

· Flyers/Poster distributed to key audiences, use of PACs' databases
· Website
· Mayor on local radio shows
· Paid ads
· Press Releases

Safety Fair:

The City of Durham will organize a "Safety Fair" to kick off National Night Out on August 1st at the Civic Center Plaza.   This event, staffed by City of Durham departments and community organizations, will provide information directly to citizens about crime prevention and victim assistance.   (Examples of exhibitors include:   Guardian Ad Litem program; Police Department community services; Coalition for Battered Women)

The Safety Fair also will officially kick off National Night Out and will serve as the venue for a Safety...In Numbers press conference for the Mayor to update the public about input received as a result of the request for information from community organizations and the eight Town Meetings.

Schedule: Safety Fair begins at 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Press Conference starts at 5 p.m.
National Night Out Kick Off starts at 6 p.m.

National Night Out: The City of Durham will support National Night Out (NNO) activities by working with the City of Durham Police Department, Partners Against Crime and the community.   NNO activities in Durham will be promoted by press releases, public service announcements throughout July.

As part of the kick off, the City of Durham Police Department will provide transportation to Council Members to visit various locations throughout the City.   All Durham citizens are asked to turn on their porch lights at 8:30 p.m. as a symbol that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

NNO is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; to generate support for, and participation in local anticrime programs; and strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships.

"I thought it would be worth circulating again some of the information Cpl. Lawrence shared with us at our recent Crime Prevention and Personal Safety meeting.

If you hear gunshots: CALL 911, and try to be prepared to tell them how many shots you heard, the time you heard them, and the approximate direction the shots came from (if you can tell).   IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE POLICE TO VISIT YOUR HOUSE, YOU CAN STILL CALL 911, just request that they not come to your house even if they have further questions.

If you see any suspicious activity, loitering, etc. in your neighborhood: Call 911 and report it.   Please try to give the dispatcher a description of the people involved in the suspicious activity -- clothing, height, weight, age, complexion, hair color are all useful.

Home safety/burglary protection: If you are going out of town, you may call the Lakewood police substation and request that the police drive by your house daily to check on it.   Always lock your doors, even if you are at home.   Install motion-sensitive lights outdoors.   Cpl Lawrence will come to your home and do a safety inspection for FREE.   Just call her (numbers below).

Street lights: If you want street lights on your street for any crime prevention reason, call Cpl Lawrence (numbers below) and she can recommend that the city install street lights for crime prevention and safety reasons.   In many cases, she can cut through the red tape you'd otherwise have to go through.

Neighborhood watch: The best way to become proactive in crime prevention is to start a neighborhood watch in your neighborhood.   Call Cpl Lawrence (numbers below) to ask about it.   She or another officer will come to your neighborhood to tell you about it.

Engrave your valuables: the TLNA owns an engraver.   Call Eric Johnson at 490-0574 to request to borrow it for FREE.   If you engrave your valuables with your SS#, you can claim them if they are lost or stolen and later recovered by the police.

If you are being followed: do not go home.   Go to a public place -- a police station or firestation is ideal, but a mall, grocery store, etc., also will be better than going home.   It's less likely that something will happen in a public place with people around.

The bottom line: call 911 if you need to report anything, whether an "emergency" or not, be prepared, and be alert.

You can contact Cpl Lawrence by leaving a message at the Lakewood substation or by calling:
560-4337 (work phone)
517-8706 (pager)

Stay safe,
Carrie Schroeder"