Maintaining Vigilance

It's been 8 months since the burglary. While we're not so hypersensitive anymore to every unfamiliar car driving on our street, we've maintained a steady vigilance in our neighborhood. It's easy to let your guard down when there is no crime or everything seems calm and hunky-dory.

That's just what burglars want. For you to let your guard down.

When people believe, "nothing happens in our neighborhood," they start neglecting to lock doors or don't bother to check if all the windows are closed and secured before they leave the house. They become less attentive to surroundings and potentially suspicious individuals.

Stay vigilant. Hold regular neighborhood watch meetings. Read the local crime blotter. Talk to your neighbors. Get to know them. Be aware of what's happening on your block and in your neighborhood.

Burglars want to get in, take your belongings, and get out. All unnoticed.

Maintaining vigilance and having neighbors who are vigilant can be what stops your home from being burglarized.

What Would You Do?

I really wish more people would stop worrying about getting into someone else's business when it's crystal clear something is wrong.

Earlier this year, we started watching a show called What Would You Do?. Actors play out precarious and/or morally-questionable situations and cameras capture how people react...if they react. If they are compelled to take action.

For example, on tonight's show, one of the scenarios focused on a guy slipping a powdery substance in his date's drink while she went to the bathroom. Not everyone who saw what happened actually spoke up. Few said anything. Most wanted to stay out of it, even though they clearly saw the male actor drop what looked like drugs into his date's glass of wine.

One of our neighbors saw the guys criminals who broke into our home. Although she felt strongly suspicious about the men knocking on our door, running away from our home, and speeding away in a vehicle, she did nothing.

She needs a major wake-up call and she needs to watch What Would You Do?.

Hopefully, people watching this show have their eyes opened a little wider and their brains tapped a little harder.

It's not about being a hero but it does involve a little common sense plus courage.

Don't be afraid to speak up. Be a nosy neighbor. Don't just stand by and do nothing. You could be stopping a crime. Perhaps even saving a life.

The Golden Rule feels appropriate right now. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Hold Regular Neighborhood Watch Meetings

When I lived alone in a condo complex, the HOA would hold regular neighborhood watch meetings. About 3-4 a year. I learned that community members in a neighborhood will naturally be hyper-vigilant when a crime has been recently committed. But...as times passes...

A couple months go by. Then 6 months pass. Nothing happens. Folks in the neighborhood almost forget about what happened and seldom discuss past unpleasant events. Then, when everyone becomes a little less vigilant, criminals strike again.

It certainly doesn't have to be this way. You can help keep neighbors vigilant by holding regular neighborhood watch meetings. This isn't about letting fear overtake your life; it's about keeping the crooks out of the place you call home.

At our last neighborhood watch meeting, we shared tips on what to watch for - like suspicious guys on bicycles carring a backpack. We learned about a neighbor's experience being burglarized at her previous home. We got to know each other a little better.

Oh, and have some fun. Make it a potluck.

Wanted: Nosy Neighbors

A neighbor across the street saw the vehicle the burglars were driving. She saw it drive around the block 3x. That's right, THREE times. The statement she gave police - she saw two guys...noticed one running away from our house (not out of the house but away from the house)...and then speed off.

Get this: She didn't call the police.

Frak. Let me get this right. She didn't call the police. She saw them drive around the block 3x. She saw them running away from the house. She saw them speed off. She didn't call the police.

Her mother was also in the front yard at the time. She too witnessed ALL of this but didn't think to call the police. She said, "I wasn't sure if it was someone you knew." Frak.

Serendipity for these criminals that our least nosy neighbor was the only one outside that early evening. Everyone else on our street is ALL in our business and would have found that activity suspicious in a heartbeat. Our burglary was the first on our street in 25 years.

A nosy neighbor can be the most effective solution to stopping a burglary or catching a burglar. You want nosy neighbors. I'll even say you want very nosy and not just kinda sorta nosy. Kinda sorta isn't likely to take action when it's most needed.