Public Safety Awareness Committee: February 2015

            The community of Clairemont got a huge boost in its crime prevention efforts last weekend when North Clairemont held a Neighborhood Watch kickoff event at Mount Etna Park on Saturday January 24th. The event marked the first of what hopes to be one of many revitalization efforts of Neighborhood Watch programs. This event served the Mount Streets area of Clairemont as a phase in the growing campaign to bridge all of Clairemont in a united crime prevention front.

            There were approximately forty-five (45) residents who attended the kickoff meeting as well as members of the Clairemont Town Council (CTC), City Councilman Chris Cate’s office, Nextdoor.com, and University City Neighborhood Watch. As the CTC Public Safety Awareness Committee (PSAC) Chairman is a serving member of the SDPD Northern Division Captain’s Advisory Board (CAB), Law Enforcement interests were present and shared with the attendees. The event offered a community based open dialogue format that allowed neighbors to share common concerns and identify trouble areas that may be unknown to adjacent neighbors or streets. There were a number of resources shared at the event that helped concerned residents to find solutions to existing or potential criminal opportunities.

            The primary platform for driving the Neighborhood Watch program is through Nextdoor.com and NW Facebook sites. Each of these forums will serve as the communication channels between all communities within Clairemont. The contributors to both sites include the NW Coordinators, San Diego Police Community Relations Officer, and most importantly, YOU, the neighbor. As the event also offered residents the opportunity to become Block Captains and have a chance to be the first to receive the 2015 version of the Neighborhood Watch sign, it showed how much people care about their homes, property, street, and neighborhood.

            Information can be found at ClairemontOnline.com and Nextdoor.com on future events and Block Captain Meetings. In the words of Edmund Burke, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

Stay Safe!

Steph Groce
Director Central
Chair, Public Safety Awareness Committee