Neighborhood Watch

Last night Angela and I attended our very first Queen Anne Neighborhood Watch meeting. And I have to tell you, I thought it was kinda cool. At five to seven we started to see people with flashlights outside so we wandered out and met up with our neighbors Bill and Betty and Mary from across the street. We walked down a block to Queen Anne Elementary School and joined the group. There ended up being seventeen people in total - some from blocks away, some from right across the street, some from streets I'd never heard of. The crowd was mostly older and some have lived in this neighborhood almost sixty years! But here's what I thought was really interesting:

Here was a group of concerned citizens, wanting to make a difference in the quality of life in their neighborhood. Apparently they've been writing letters and making calls and fighting the system for years. But they're not ready to give up. They welcomed us and asked our advice (since Ang works for LAUSD and the biggest problem is Los Angeles High Schools' student truancy problems spilling into our streets) and shared a little insight.

We found out that there have been a few home invasions in the past years, there are drug houses around, parking is an issue, and the city said it would take up to six months to fix a burned out streetlight. We also found out a neighbor, thankfully on a street I didn't recognize, has a shotgun loaded with rock salt, and he's ready to use it!

All in all, an interesting look at Neighborhood Watch, something I'd never experienced before. In December our SLO, senior lead officer, from the LAPD is supposed to be there - I'll let you know how that goes!