I live outside of town. Occasionally we have a mini crime spree. The dirtballs will come out in the area and break into homes, garages. I know it is the same all over, cities, towns, and even in the country. Nothing new, still disgusting and scary to my family.
Last year one of my neighbors had an idea that I think is interesting and hopefully helpful. He came up with a neighborhood web-mail watch. Most folks have internet access and email. So he has spread the word that his email should be used when someone sees something suspicious in the area. He has it set up to do monthly tests, just to keep everyone aware of the system. So far there have been a couple warnings sent out. Kinda nice to get a "heads up" when scumbags are around.
Anybody ever hear of something like that? Did he come up with something? Or is there something else out there that may be better?
Good idea, and if you can get your email on your phone it could be near real time. Might be better (or more timely) if he could set it up to send a text message alert to cell phones in addition to email.
A mass text message would be better. Depending on what kind of phone the sender has he could set up a distribution list and just hit send.
It's a good idea. I wish my hood had something like this.
Many, many moons ago, I was the block captain for the Neighborhood Watch in my area. This was long before computers were invented so once a week, I would walk door to door handing out safety pamphlets and gathering information on suspicious activity. I would then go home and type this information out, and deliver it on my next week's walk. We were successful in making my neighborhood one of the safest in the city.
With this being said, utilizing the computer would really make fast work of this, and providing instant warnings would be fantastic. I give it "two thumbs up!"
One problem we have out here is that the population is a lot of old farmers. There have been a number of additions as they sell off and subdivide. But still many older people without a lot of use for a computer. Or if they do use one, they use it for business and nothing more.
As they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink it! Some elderly people just are not computer savvy, and this would be an open door to either provide them a printed copy, or spend a few minutes teaching them on how to use a computer. Many elderly folks would love the attention and a break in their boring lives, and from my 25 years in law enforcement, they are usually the best witnesses; and unfortunately usually the biggest victims of scams.
For several years, I volunteered to be a guest speaker at a senior citizen mobile home park. They were intent listeners, and most were unaware of the scams which target them.
That seems like a great idea and could be helpful for a lot of people. Speaking from experience, the one thing that seems to make the most difference is knowing your neighbors. I live in a neighborhood where I interact with many of my neighbors on a regular basis. Many people don't have this type of interaction with their neighbors and a service such as this could be very usefull.
It seems like a good idea.. If you guys are serious about it, I would do it as a supplemental service to the neighborhood watch program.
The problem a lot of the times, is that people just don't know their neighbors anymore. It would be a good idea for you and your neighbor who brought the idea up, to start a neighborhood watch, and then see how it grows.
Sometimes it only takes a couple of folks to take the project seriously, and it will grow from there.
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