Neighbourhood Watch News

2008 - There is finally enough volunteers to get this program started. So stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, if there are any suspicious activities that are happening or minor incidents that could go unreported to the police, please direct them to Tom. You will be introduced to your street captain soon and they will then become your main contact.

Remember you should report any incidents to the police first and then afterwards inform the neighbourhood watch street captain. The street captains are not first in line to call; they only facilitate the logging of incidents. Direct all questions regarding this overall program to Tom.

December 2007 - Our first neighbourhood watch meeting was held last month with all the block captains that volunteered to help out on this enormous community initiative. Over the next few months they will be receiving information on how to facilitate and report incidents and will be introducing themselves to you by early Spring. There is one captain per street or partial street.

What The Neighbourhood Watch program can do is to create a reporting database for the police so that they can step up patrol in if more incidents of a similar nature is happening.

For example, your OLD bicycle is stolen out of your garage and you don't feel like it is worth it to report the incident to the police. If you do report it to Neighbourhood Watch, we will have a log of it, combining this with the police database, there could be 7 reports of stolen bikes in the area on that given date. Only on the police reports only one person reported their stolen bike and the neighbourhood watch program recorded the other 6. This would be just cause to have more police officers patrolling our neighbourhood for bike thieves if they knew 7 were stolen. They can't help us if they don't know about it.

Remember, the captains are generally not the first to be contacted it is the police you should call. Our program and captains are here just to facilitate the data in order to help improve police protection in our neighbourhood.

If you would like to participate in becoming a captain or being more involved with this initiative please email Tom.

2005 - In 2004, a few marijuana houses have been busted in our neighbourhood. There was also a number of day time break-ins at McCowan and Highglen area too. So do not lax your watchful eyes for suspicious activities day or night.

For example, does your neighbour avoids your eye contacts? Have you not seen your neighbour for days, weeks, months? Do you have a feeling that they are intentionally avoid being seen during the day? Do they have the normal garbage capacity as a regular household? Do they always blind all their windows? These are hints of suspicious activities.

If you suspect any illegal activities going on around the neighbourhood, please contact the York Regional Police. You don't have to give out your information. Alternatively, you can also contact our neighbourhood Watch chairperson, Tom Tse. The information will be relay to the Town's department accordingly.

Neighbourhood Watch Program
We Needs Your Eyes! All residents are reminded to be on their guard at all times. If you observe any suspicious persons or vehicles in our neighbourhood and you feel a crime is about to be perpetrated call:

York Regional Police @ 905-881-1221 or dial 911.

Remember DO NOT take actions into your own hands and confront the individual(s).

Neighbours please keep your Suspect & Vehicle Identification Sheets on your fridge door or some place handy. Also please review the suspect sheet with your children to make sure they understand it and what it means to be aware of their surroundings where ever they go. In order to keep our neighbourhood safe, we have to keep an eye out for one another.

For more information on the Neighbourhood Watch program contact Tom Tse.

Crime Prevention
York Regional Police's website is filled with crime prevention information that we can access. Always be on alert when you hear of any of the following in the community:

• home invasions,
• break and enters,
• a suspicious person in the Town .

Please keep some of the TIPS in mind:

• keep doors and windows locked at all times
• know who is at the door before opening it
• make sure your house has proper lighting
• teach the kids not to talk to strangers
• be alert if someone is paying too much attention to your child
• pay attention to your surroundings and don't put yourself at risk
• practice safe walking routes to school, park or friends homes
• report any suspicious vehicles and people

If you see or hear anything suspicious please contact YRP at 1-866-876-5423. As well please let your neighbourhood watch captain know so that we can keep a record of incidents in the community. Please keep your family and your neighbourhood safe.