The Block Captain committee was
formed to augment the Neighborhood Patrol and overtime police patrol
contract following an increase in vandalism in the neighborhood. The
idea is to provide a means of communication between residents of
Glenwood Hills on incidents/trends of crime and vandalism in order to
reduce these type of occurrences in the neighborhood.
This committee was formed during the February, 2008 Neighborhood Association meeting.
The purpose of the committee is
to recruit block captains in the Glenwood Hills into about 20-40
"block" areas where the block captains are the point of contact for
reporting and disseminating information on the details of
crimes/vandalism occurring in the neighborhood.
The block captain committee can
pass information from one block to another about crime in the area. The
block captain committee can schedule meetings with APD crime prevention
specialists to document trends and received updated information of
neighborhood crime over a semi-annual period. The block
captain committee cannot report individual crimes to the police - this
is the duty of the individual who was the victim. The
block captains and the committee cannot act in any official capacity
representing the Albuquerque police department and are not allowed to
apprehend any suspects; but they can report suspicious activities to
both the police and to the other block captains via the lead block
captain. The sharing of video monitoring clips, etc. would make it possible to identify criminals who regularly frequent the
neighborhood.
Currently, we are in the process
of identifying block captains and their house numbers for the
neighborhood. 132 houses (out of 800 plus) have been identified with 7
block captains covering these houses. You can see these houses by
clicking on the maps for the neighborhood: Northwest, Northeast,
Southeast or Southwest. The block captains and their blocks are
highlighted in color. If your house is not colored, that means we're
still looking for a block captain volunteer for your area. Contact
Bert Guerrero (robertoguerrero@mac.com)
to either be included in our phone/email contact list or to volunteer
as a block captain. If you sign up for just the phone contact list,
Bert will give you updates on crimes and ways to reduce report
incidents until a block captain is identified for your area.
Click on the links
below for a description of the program to include the Albuquerque
Police Dept web page and PDFs of their flyers.
Our goal is to get as close to
100% participation in the neighborhood so we can better identify the
types of crimes being committed in Glenwood hills and to reduce
their occurrences.
What is the Block Captain program? This is an extension of the official Neighborhood Watch program, sponsored by the Albuquerque Police Department. The idea is to unite homes in small blocks in order to pass information around quickly and to keep a watch on developments/concerns/suspicious activity close to your home. There is more information on what a Block Captain is on the APD website: http://www.cabq.gov/police/prevention/blockcaptain.html Here is a short excerpt from their site: The key person in any Neighborhood Watch group is the Block Captain. This person is an integral component to keeping the block actively involved in crime prevention efforts as well as the important process of information exchange between neighbors. Many Neighborhood Watch groups flourish, but some dwindle while others disappear totally. How successful they are depends on the Block Captain and the support he or she receives from neighbors.
Duties of a block captain would include:
1) Develop a neighborhood communication system for homes in your immediate "block". This could be 10 - 20 homes.
2) An initial meeting with the Albuquerque Police Department is requried with 50% of the homes in your block in order to become an official participant in the APD Neighborhood Watch program and purchase the Neighborhood Watch signs (we highly encourage this as the signs are a deterrant to crime)
3) Be alert for suspicious or obviously criminal activity in your area and report these activities to both APD and the Block Captain
4) Meet as a group occasionally (annually suggested) for a social gathering to exchange information and renew relationships.
5) Update Neighborhood Watch program training every few years
6) Periodically monitor the membership of your 'block'
It is the Board's feeling that your contribution to this program would be of great benefit to the overall safety and security of our neighborhood. Please see the Block Captain page on our GHNA website: http://glenwoodhills.net/Block_Captain.html
The site will help you identify if the area you live in already has a block captain.
Please let us know if you would like to become a block captain by contacting our block captain coordinator, Bert Guerrero (505-332-2374) or email at robertoguerrero@mac.com or myself,
