Posted 2/8/2010:
GHNA members, We need your help in fighting crime in our area. That is not to say that we have a high crime neighborhood, which we don't. Compaared to the neighborhoods around us, we actually have a pretty low crime rate. But crimes such as car break-ins and residential burgulary occur almost every month and even though they are at a low rate, we would certainly like to see even less crime. The GHNA Board continues to allocate 75% of the annuals dues to crime prevention through additional police patrols in our neighborhood. However, the police cannot be here 100% of the time and even at 75% of our budget, there are only so many additional police patrols that we can pay for. The Glenwood Hills Neighborhood Association would like your help in expanding our "Block Captain" program to help better unite the neighborhood and reduce crime.
If any of you are interested in reducing crime in our neighborhood, please consider volunteering to be a Block Captain. It really doesn't take too much time.
What is the Block Captain program? This is an extension of the official Neighborhood Watch program, sponsored by the Albuquerque Police Department. The idea is to unite homes in small blocks in order to pass information around quickly and to keep a watch on developments/concerns/suspicious activity close to your home. There is more information on what a Block Captain is on the APD website: http://www.cabq.gov/police/prevention/blockcaptain.html Here is a short excerpt from their site: The key person in any Neighborhood Watch group is the Block Captain. This person is an integral component to keeping the block actively involved in crime prevention efforts as well as the important process of information exchange between neighbors. Many Neighborhood Watch groups flourish, but some dwindle while others disappear totally. How successful they are depends on the Block Captain and the support he or she receives from neighbors.
Duties of a block captain would include:
1) Develop a neighborhood communication system for homes in your immediate "block". This could be 10 - 20 homes.
2) An initial meeting with the Albuquerque Police Department is requried with 50% of the homes in your block in order to become an official participant in the APD Neighborhood Watch program and purchase the Neighborhood Watch signs (we highly encourage this as the signs are a deterrant to crime)
3) Be alert for suspicious or obviously criminal activity in your area and report these activities to both APD and the Block Captain
4) Meet as a group occasionally (annually suggested) for a social gathering to exchange information and renew relationships.
5) Update Neighborhood Watch program training every few years
6) Periodically monitor the membership of your 'block'
It is the Board's feeling that your contribution to this program would be of great benefit to the overall safety and security of our neighborhood. Please see the Block Captain page on our GHNA website: http://glenwoodhills.net/Block_Captain.html
The site will help you identify if the area you live in already has a block captain.
Please let us know if you would like to become a block captain by contacting our block captain coordinator, Bert Guerrero (505-332-2374) or email at robertoguerrero@mac.com or myself, Roger Cook by phone (505-275-2089) or email: roglenco@aol.com.
Thanks,
Roger Cook, President, Glenwood Hills Neighborhood Association
Posted 11/25/2009:
GH Residents, In reviewing the crime statistics for Glenwood Hills of the past several months, we continue to have a couple of car break-ins per month and an occasional house burgulary.
Most of the car break-ins seem to occur during the night or early morning hours but a few have happened in the day time. The best thing you can do to avoid car break-ins is to not leave valuables in your vehicle and to park it in your garage if possible. APD also told me yesterday that there was a recent rash of stolen vehicles along the foothills (not in Glenwood Hills but close), all caused by people leaving their cars to warm-up in their driveways early in the morning. Someone was driving through the neighborhoods looking for this situation, apparantly with some extra drivers who hopped out and drove away in the cars.
The home burglaries have a somewhat different pattern as most of them happen in the daytime - Monday and Tuesday seem to be the most common days. Some of these seem to be happening in the early morning after folks have left to go to work. About the only way to catch these infrequent crimes is for all of us to be keeping a watchful eye and reporting any suspicious behavior to the police by calling 242-COPS. YOu also need to make sure you don't leave your garage door open in the daytime as this could invite a crime of convenience for anyone cruising through the neighborhood. We have one of the lowest crime areas in the city but we still need to be vigilant to keep it this way.
We, the GHNA board members, believe that the most effective way for us to stay vigilant is to be better organized in small groups of neighbors who know each other and watch out for each other and know when something strange seems to be going on around them. APD has an official name for this - the Neighborhood Watch Program - usually organized around 15 - 20 homes with a designated Block Captain. We already have about 20% of GH organized in this fashion but would like to have a much higher percentage of the neighborhood covered. If you would be willing to serve as a Block Captain for your immediate section of the nieghborhood, please contact me with your name and phone number.
One other related safety item. If you are going to be out of town for an extended period of time, you can call the APD Foothills Substation at 332-5240 and request a "periodic watch". The police will drive by your house occasionally and basically try to keep an eye on it during the time period you request.
Also, attached is a safety flier from APD with some tips on how to stay safe over the holidays. We wish all of you a safe holiday season.
Roger Cook
President, GHNA
Posted 9/10/2009:
Glenwood Hills Neighborhood Garage/Yard Sale
The annual Glenwood Hills Neighborhood Garage/Yard Sale will be held on 9/12 beginning at 9 am. It is only being advertised as a one day event. The neighborhood association will advertise this in the newspaper. If you want to particiate, all you need to do is put your own signs out on Saturday morning. This usually draws a pretty good crowd of shoppers. We have also put some signs up at the entrance to the neighborhood letting you know this event is coming.
Posted 8/02/2009:
The annual Glenwood Hills Neighborhood Garage/Yard Sale will be held on 9/12 beginning at 9 am. It is only being advertised as a one day event. The neighborhood association will advertise this in the newspaper. If you want to particiate, all you need to do is put your own signs out on Saturday morning. This usually draws a pretty good crowd of shoppers. We have also put some signs up at the entrance to the neighborhood letting you know this event is coming.
Glenwood Hills Neighborhood Association
Annual Meeting and Picnic
Sun. - Aug. 23 - 3:00PM at Sunset Canyon Park
Attendees bring: Last name initials A - H Salad
I - P Entree
Q - Z Dessert
Although we will hold a business meeting (the city requires us to have an annual meeting) and elect 3 board members, these annual meetings are also a good place to meet some of your neighbors and your neighborhood association board members. It is also an opportune time to bring up any questions you may have for the board. I hope to see you there.
Also, while you are marking things on your calendar, the Neighborhood Garage/Yard Sale will be held on 9/12 beginning at 8 am this year. The neighborhood association will advertise this in the newspaper and then anyone who wants to participate simply puts up their own signs. This usually draws a prety good crowd.
Posted 6/30/2009:
GH Residents, We are holding our annual Neighborhood Association meeting for all members this year on August 23rd at 3 pm in Sunset Canyon Park on Larchmont. This is an early notice to allow you to get it on your calendar. During our annual meetings in August, we generally review any major activities of the past year and elect 3 new members to the board. Nominations for board members are open at this time. We are particularly in need of someone who has a passion for the Block Captain/Neighborhood Watch programs. This is one of the better ways to proactively manage crime prevention and we could use better organization in this area. Please submit any board nominations to Jack Oestreicher at 293-2889 or
jjo62@comcast.net. Thank you for supporting your Glenwood Hills Neighborhood Association.
Roger Cook
President, GHNA
Posted 5/03/2009:
Here are some responses that we got to the SECURITY email below provided to you as additional information:
4/24 - A man knocked on my door this week, said he was in rehab and claimed some company was going to send him to ITT if ....the resident closed the door at this point but it's one more example of questionable folks knocking on doors.
4/21 - A young man came to my door looking for work. He was dressed in black, carried a small black bag and looked very unclean. The resident asked him to leave.
Posted 4/21/2009:
Dear Glenwood Hills Neighbors,
Security issues have always been one of the highest priorities for the Glenwood Hills Neighborhood Association Board. As most of you know, the majority of your annual neighborhood association fees goes to extra police patrols in our neighborhood. We continue to have one of the lowest crime rates in Albuquerque. However, that does not mean we don't have crime in Glenwood and we should all be vigilant about watching for and reporting suspicious activities in our neighborhood. This message is intended to cover a number of topics related to crime.
Crime Reporting Information:
The Albuquerque Police Department is supporting an
d updating a Crime Reporting Web Site. This site is
www.crimereports.com.
To use this site log on and under "Enter location" enter 87111, (for Glenwood Hills area) crime reports.
You can:
Move around the map by clicking on the map
Zoom in/out by clicking on the +/- boxes
You can sort by crime, periods, etc
For information on a crime click on the crime block (distance is from the balloon)
Note: You may be asked to "sign up" for crime reports. This not necessary Some recent (last ~month) incidences that have been reported to us:
- Someone tried to cut into a garage using tin snips. They didn't get in but did ruin the garage door.
- Two young, adult males were seen in the arroyo east of Sunset Canyon Park climbing over fences into yards (or out of yards) during the day time.
- Along this same arroyo, a resident came home at night and saw 2 males running from his back yard, jump over the wall into the arroyo and head down towards Larchmont.
- Someone seen looking in mailboxes in the early morning hours (3 am)
- A mid-fifties, white man knocked on a door & gave a spiel about falling on hard times and looking for yard work to make ends meet. He said his name was Ron Hunt & showed his driver's license and business card (which he kept). He claimed to teach Sunday school at Calvary Chapel (apparanlty fabricated) He was paid in advance to do a little clean-up pruning but did a terrible job and left a mess behind. He had a driver/partner. They were in a gold Blazer-type vehicle with a Cowboy's Football sticker on the back window. The car has been seen driving in our neighborhood since apparently soliciting other neighbors.
- Others in the neighborhood have reported an increase in the number of people going door-to-door allegedly selling "catered foods," offering to sell landscaping rocks or asking to do yard work, tree trimming or odd-jobs. They suspect that some of them are trying to get a feel for how many people live in the house, how old they are, if they live alone or have dogs.
How can you help prevent crime in our neighborhood?
- The Albuquerque Police Dept. has a lot of crime prevention information posted on their website at:
http://www.cabq.gov/police/prevention/index.html
- Call 911 in case of an immediate emergency (life or property in immediate danger or being threatened)
- Be observant and report all suspicious behavior, malicious events and all other non-emergency situations to the police at 242-COPS (242-2677)
- If there is a crime at your residence, please file a police report. Call 242-COPS (242-2677), especially if you want to talk to a police officer. You can also file police reports on-line at:
http://www.cabq.gov/police/requestreport/index.html
- Call 311 to report illegal trash dumping, graffiti, etc.
- Participate in our Block Captain program. This programs main goal is to have groups of 15 - 20 homes or "blocks" to organize to quickly share issues going on in their immediate area. If you visit the Block Captain tab on our Glenwood Hills website,
http://glenwoodhills.net/
you can see maps that show about 25% of our neighborhood currently have block captains. If you would like to volunteer as a Block Captain for your block, please contact Bert Guerrero at 803-6482.
- Continue to pay your annual membership dues as this is how we pay for additional patrols.
- Sign-up to participate in the Neighborhood Security Patrol. This is made up of volunteers from our neighborhood to drive around a few hours a week in conjunction with additional police patrols. In other words, it is us intentionally looking suspicious activity with the ability to have police immediately respond. We also look for such things as garage doors left open late at night. Please contact Marc LaChey at 275-2331 if you are interested in participating. More information is available on our website under the What-Is tab
Don't make it easy for criminals.
- Always close your garage door, and make sure it is closed completely. Open garage doors are a common entry point for criminals.
- Don't leave your garage door opener in a car that is parked outside
- Secure all vehicles you have to leave outside at night and keep all valuable out of sight. APD also recommends some type of theft prevention device such as steering wheel locks or a kill switch. Auto burglary is a big problem in our city.
-Don't leave your mail in your mailbox over night. This is a source of identity theft and also may indicate that you are out of town.
- Have someone pick-up your newspapers when you are away.
- The majority of residential break-ins are quick events, with the criminal taking things of high value that they can grab quickly such as cash, jewelry and guns. Try to keep your valuables in a safely hidden location.
-Be especially alert when you are coming home late at night. Over the past few years, most of our infrequent but more serious attempts at robbery by gunpoint or other weapons (baseball bats) have occured as someone has arrived home late at night and are accosted when getting out of their car. Leave lights on around your garage.
- Be cautious when someone comes to your door. If you do not know the person, you may want to consider not answering the door. Keep your doors locked at all times.
Other recent GHNA web site up dates:
Up date from Councilor Jones, See District 8 Counselor page
Up date on reality information, See Realty News (all three pages)
Roger Cook
President, GHNA
Posted 4/14/2009:
The Mountainside YMCA, located at 12500 Comanche NE, is offering membership discounts to neighborhood association members only for a limited time. They will waive the $50 enrollment fee and take $4 off the monthly fee. Beverly Jordan, YMCA Membership Director, said that the facilities have been completely remodeled and has invited anyone interested in membership to come over for a personal tour of the facilities. Beverly can be reached at 292-2298 ext 106. Note: GHNA membership will be verified by the YMCA.
