February Monthly Meeting - Neighborhood Watch Training

On February 15, several VVA residents attended the neighborhood watch training held at the WJ Kinney Police Station. At that training, the Sacramento Police Department provide valuable insight in to the making of a successful neighborhood watch program.

The goals and benefits to an organized neighborhood watch program is to do the following:

(1) provides an avenue for uniting a community and increases neighborhood cohesion;
(2) reduces fear of crime in a community;
(3) improves crime reporting by citizens;
(4) increases surveillance in a community;
(5) helps to prevent and reduce crime;
(6) creates a partnership between law enforcement and a community

Neighborhood watch is really about creating an environment where neighbors can meet and get to know each other.  By increasing involvement of neighbors in our community, neighbors will look out for one another.

VVA is fortunate in that it has a very active core group of neighbors.  We'd like to build on that by creating more opportunities for our neighbors to get to know each other.

In addition to the annual Easter Egg Hunt (hosted by our very own Dennis Boyd on Sorento) and the 4th of July Parade (hosted by long time Valley Viewer Libby Harmour on Tunis) and the semi-annual neighborhood cleanup and pot luck (hosted by the Angel family), our goal is to possibly organize walking groups (in the spring), where neighbors can meet and walk the neighborhood together and to host additional neighborhood events, like a National Night Out block party in August.

We're always open to suggestions!