Neighborhood Watch encourages community safety
BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — LaFayette locals and community officials attended the first Neighborhood Watch meeting at the Venue on Tuesday, March 24. Council Member for District D Charlene Story welcomed those in attendance and shared her intention for the meeting and creating a neighborhood watch in LaFayette.
“I have been doing some research about what a neighborhood watch could be and how it can benefit the citizens of LaFayette,” she said. “This neighborhood watch is not only for my district, I’m looking [forward to] everybody in the city coming out and being a part of this neighborhood watch, because we can all lean on each other when it comes to making sure that our city stays safe. Chief Trice can probably speak to this, but we have a very, very low crime rate in LaFayette. So we don’t see many activities in LaFayette, and we want to keep it that way.”
Story said locals can make small changes around their homes in order to improve safety, such as home security camera options where locals can purchase a camera system that attaches to the electricity and wifi along with other maintenance that can ensure home security.
“One of the main things that a lot of people don’t realize that [can help improve safety] is, with bushes and trees, you lose visibility of your property and also looking out of your property,” she said. “So it’s best that you cut those down so that you can see what’s going on in your yard, around your yard or your neighbor’s yard.
“My main thing is, if we see issues in our neighborhood, call 911 if it’s an emergency — but if it’s a non-emergency, we do have a non-emergency line [(334) 864-1083] that you can call and report suspicious activities.”
LaFayette Police Chief Christopher Trice said it is helpful for the police department when locals share concerns or suspicious activity and encouraged those in attendance to reach out to the department for emergencies and non-emergencies.
“We do have a low crime rate, and we want to keep it that way,” he said. “It’s heating up now. Every time it heats up around here [crime] picks up a little bit. Mayor Vines used to be the chief here. He understands that when it gets a little hot people start roaming around a little bit more, but, as of right now, we are still one of the lowest crime rate cities in the state of Alabama — not just in Chambers County but in the state of Alabama. Y’all can see things that we don’t see. So if you see anything, [reach out]. A lot of times, I think people get scared of calling the police. They don’t want their name to be on the scanner, but, [with] that non-emergency number, you can be anonymous.”
Story opened up the meeting for those in attendance to share ideas, suggestions and their perspective on the Neighborhood Watch.
“I’m disappointed in my fellow citizens, because I heard a lot of talk, and it’s time — you got to put up when it comes to your community,” one constituent in attendance said. “So I’d like to have another meeting in four to six weeks and time to say, ‘Come on, guys. Look, all you do is talk; we got the opportunity to come together and look after one another. It’s time to bring more citizens and get involved.’”
Story closed the meeting by encouraging those in attendance to stay up to date on the next meeting — by following Charlene Story on Facebook — and to invite those around them to get involved in the Neighborhood Watch, stay aware of what is happening around their community and report suspicious or concerning activities to the LaFayette Police Department.
“We do have an amazing police department, they do a great job — if you call them, they do come out — they’re very alert and professional,” she said. “So we just got to keep working together as a community to make our town even safer than it is now.”
Moving forward, Story said she is planning to reach out to other cities that have a neighborhood watch to see different structures for navigating community safety, along with ensuring continued collaboration with the LaFayette Police Department.
