C.O.P.S. Neighborhood Watch Program
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 October 18, 2010 - 2010 COPS Festival - The entire HBB community is invited to particiapte in this festival being held at the New Gwinnett Braves Cool Ray Field.
Click thumbnail for printable flyer.
The COPS Program:
C.O.P.S. stands for Community Oriented Police Services and is a neighborhood watch program. It is a program of the Gwinnett County Police Crime Prevention Unit.
The purpose of C.O.P.S. is to create a police/community partnership to reduce the likelihood of crime occurring in your area by:
• Notifying all members of the neighborhood of any police related incidents as soon as possible, via a network of block captains and the neighborhood liaison(s).
• Getting to know your neighbors so that unusual activity will be noticed and reported.
• Establishing a relationship with the police department.
• Education on techniques that will minimize the chance of you
becoming a victim of crime.
Click to learn about C.O.P.S. Incident Reports and other related items
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Safety Tips:
This is an article written by Block Captain Chuck Topetzes.
"Here are some common sense tips we need to keep in mind in our neighborhood and around our properties.
1. Be sure you have locked your cars in your driveways. Leaving something of value in plain view is an invitation to have your car broken into. I'm amazed to hear stories of people leaving laptops, wallets, cash and other valuable items in plain view in unlocked vehicles. I would suggest you not leave those kinds of items in a locked verhicle, let alone an unlocked one. If a passenger window is smashed in order for the thief to access your personal property, you'll be out $250 to $300 just to replace the window. And there is some questions of whether or not your insurance company (either auto or homeowners) would pay on a claim for a stolen personal property if the adjuster determines you left the items in an unlocked vehicle. So, the rule to follow is simple. REMOVE ALL VALUABLE ITEMS FROM PLAIN VIEW AND LOCK YOUR VEHICLE.
2. It's also been brought to my attention that there are still some folk who go to sleep at night and or leave their homes with doors unlocked. Need I say more? Simple rule number 2. KEEP ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS LOCKED ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT. Home invasions are called that because that's when the bad guys enter the home: when they KNOW a resident is at home. Thanks to Gordon Calley, he noticed we'd gone to bed, but left our garage door wide open one night, and closed it for us.
3. In order to protect yourself from burglars and home invaders, it's sometimes wise to think like one. Statistically speaking, most home burglaries take place on a weekday at about 10 AM. So, walk around your property in the day time and see if there are places that would make breaking into your home easier for a bad guy. Are your shrubs overgrown and blocking the view of your windows or access doors? In other words, could a burglar hide between your shrubs and windows and be unseen prying open a window? Trimming shrubbery down to the lower window sill level is an inexpensive way of "hardening the target."
At night, walk around your house. Are there unlit areas a burglar could gain unseen or unnoticed access through windows or doors? If so, motion sensitive lights can be installed at a very low cost to significantly "soften the target." The simple rule here is, CHECK THE PERMETER OF YOUR HOUSE IN THE DAY AND AT NIGHT TO DETERMINE IF YOU COULD TAKE SOME STEPS TO "SOFTEN THE TARGET" OF ACCESSING YOUR HOME IN THE DAY OR AT NIGHT>
4. When you plan on being gone on a long- or short-trip, do you let your neighbors on either side of your property know where you're going, when you're leaving and when you'll be returning? Did you make arrangements to have your newspaper and miail picked up or delivery stopped? Have you considered setting up several light fixtures inside your home with timers to go on and off at different times? What about timing a television to go on and off during the day and night? The simple rule here is, ALERT NEIGHBORS OR FRIENDS ABOUT YOUR BEING GONE FOR SHORT OR LONG TRIPS, AND TAKE MEASURES TO MAKE THE INTERIOR OF YOUR HOME MORE SECURE THAN LEAVING IT DARK AND TELLING BURGLARS IS HOME.
There are obviously more measures which can be taken to protect ourselves and our property, such as dead-bolt locks, reinforced door jams, solid-core doors, window frame pins, etc. All of these and the measures discussed above are far less expensive than not doing them. In fact, think about the out-of-pocket expense you'll incur if your home is ransacked, vandalized and relieved of valuable items. The cost of hardening the target is pennies on the dollar compared to the cost of doing nothing and becoming another victim. And what if it turns out that your homeowner's insurance agent determines your loss was due to your leaving a door unlocked? Will they still pay for your loss or will you have to bear the entire expense?
But there is one measure that cannot be emphasized enough. If you see anyone or anything going on in the neighborhood which suggests to you or urges you calling 911, DO NOT HESITATE TO DO SO. Trust your gut !!! Gwinnett County Police want us to call 911 when we se something that our gut tells us is wrong. Call 911, then, after the dust settles, report that to me so I can be sure the event is reported to Robert Pettett who heads up our C.O.P.S. initiative. Robert will see that the information is shared with other Block Captains who will share the info further with their neighbors.
In the meantime, stay safe by being vigilant."
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Who are our C.O.P.S. leaders?
Gwinnett County Police Department
Officer Rhonda Wood
District 5 C.O.P.S. Liaison
Gwinnett County Police Dept.
Crime Prevention Unit
Phone #770.495.3900 ext. 3909
C.O.P.S. Liaison
Robert Pettett - 770.564.1950
Block Captains
We currently have over thirty Block Captains but could use more, especially on Guilford Court and Hampton Trail where we don't have any Block Captains signed up. Also we need a Block Captain for southern intersection of Shady Drive and Huntington going toward Burns Road. To view the list of Captains, you will need to have the login info for that page. Please fill out the form on the Reports page and we will supply one to you.
Would you like to serve as a Block Captain?
Here are the responsibilities:
a. Assist liaison in coordinating meetings and activities
b. Is responsible for an assigned number of homes
c. Maintains a ledger of assigned participants
d. Participates in the "Calling Tree" according to guidelines
(There should be little of this since we can send nearly everything
out by email )
e. Documents all reported incidents
f. Attends all meetings
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if you are interested in serving as a Block Captain. |
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