Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - BrentwoodPress_05.16.08 - Index

4A | THEPRESS.NET COMMUNITY MAY 16, 2008
Keeping vigilance up to keep crime down
by Jennifer Birkland
Correspondent
Elaine Furtado and other residents
of the Creekside Park area of
south Brentwood are taking back
their neighborhood after numerous
incidents involving burglary, vandalism,
arson, drug use, sexual activity
and a recent armed robbery, the victims
of which were children.
Furtado organized Creekside
Watch, a neighborhood watch group,
to connect residents and encourage
them to report suspicious behavior
to police.
The mother of two realized
enough was enough when she drove
by Creekside Park on April 11 at
around 10:30 p.m. as three 14-yearold
children, one of whom she knew
personally, were allegedly being
robbed at gunpoint by four boys in
their late teens.
Furtado did not immediately
report the incident to the police, and
although none of the victims were
hurt, she says it’s a decision she still
regrets.
Later that night she drove back by
the park, saw police cars and stopped
to give a statement. It was then she
decided to organize a neighborhood
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watch program.
“We’ve become way too
complacent about what’s going on
at the park,” Furtado said. “It’s affecting
all three of the surrounding
developments. People need to reconnect,
to be proactive and make the
call. The police have been great and
don’t mind if we call and it ends up
being nothing.”
Creekside Watch members met
on May 8 to share stories and get a
better understanding of what’s actually
taking place in their neighborhood.
Brentwood Community Services
officer Michele Keady, the city’s
Neighborhood Watch program coordinator,
answered residents’ questions
and explained how the program
works.
“The goal of the program is to
create a cohesive neighborhood where
everyone knows everyone’s names
and phone numbers and the lines
of communication are established,”
Keady said. “When someone in the
neighborhood sees something suspicious,
say someone lingering outside
a neighbor’s home, if they don’t feel
comfortable calling the police, for
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Photo by Kevin Bartram
whatever reason, they can call their Brentwood resident John Hall questions Brentwood Police Department
see Vigilance page 12A
Community Services Offi cer Michele Keady during a Neighborhood Watch
organizational meeting at Creekside Park.