Many moons ago, the Sunset Cliffs north area had a neighborhood watch. In the past few months, several members of the community got together and thought that it should be revisited. Gary Werchak and Teri Moraga contacted Officer David Surwilo, the community relations officer for the Western Division of SDPD, to discuss reforming the group. The thought was that if they could find someone who had already started a group it would make the procedure easier and eliminate some of the problems that the other groups might have faced as they set up their watch program.
The group was fortunate to have Rosamaria Acuna suggested because she helped set up the Sunset Cliffs South Neighborhood Watch group and it is successful. The three of them, and I, met at Werchak’s to discuss how to go about beginning the watch group in our area. The final suggestion was to hold a meeting for those interested in joining the group. Acuna went into action. Invitation cards were designed, printed, and mailed to those people in the area we had targeted for the watch group. Moraga made contact with a variety of people and secured an email address for those who wanted to respond to the invitation. And Werchak? He pulled everything together from what was being produced by the neighbors.
We had our first meeting at the Hervey Library in late November. About 35 people came and enjoyed some treats while Surwilo explained the procedure to start the group. He emphasized many times that one cannot use social media as the basis for what is going on in the neighborhood. He said that if you really want to know what is going on, go to crimemapping.com and find out the real story. Sometimes people repeat what others have posted on social media, and it seems like there are twice as many incidents as actually took place. There are some things that should be shared, but sometimes things shared are inaccurate and shed a wrong light on those activities.
Our area has several areas of concern: The number of people attending “classes” on the cliffs; people camping in front of residences; street lights not working; break-ins, etc. Surwilo stated that we do not have any big issues facing us like some other areas – gang houses, drug houses, etc. (He did mention that a few years ago a drug house that was up the street from me was shut down.)
He mentioned that seasons also increase – or decrease – the crime all over the city. For example, during the winter we keep windows and doors closed because it is cold. Even when we go out, we close everything up, but in the summer we keep our windows and doors open, and many times when we go to the store for just a “minute” we do not lock the windows or doors, and this is a direct call to the thief to come in and take a look. (I must admit that if I go to the market for just “a few things” I don’t close my windows. I will now.)
We found out how much the park rangers are responsible for patrolling the areas – Sunset Cliffs, the parking areas, etc.
We heard how important it is to report things that are going on because it builds up a log that alerts the police that something is amiss. The phone number to call for the park rangers is 858-581-9982 for infractions they are responsible for quelling. The phone number for the non-emergency police report is 619-692-4800. Of course, in an emergency call 911.
Basically, this first meeting was to see about setting up a Neighborhood Watch in our area. Sign-up forms were given to each person attending and at the end of the session, Surwilo answered questions from the audience. There was certainly interest in forming the group by those who were in attendance, and I think that in the next few weeks a group will be established. If you missed the meeting but would like to be a part of the Sunset Cliffs Neighborhood Watch, send an email to [email protected] and we will contact you for the next meeting. If nothing else, it was a wonderful experience meeting our neighbors. Let’s keep the lines of communication open. It will make a difference.
