WORKING TOGETHER TO PREVENT CRIME – Hartford Courant
Windsor Locks resident Mary Powers should be congratulated for her efforts to get neighbors involved in preventing crime. In an era when many people do not know the person living next door, she has organized a crime watch that encourages residents to look out for one another. Now she needs help.
In August, Miss Powers started the town's first neighborhood crime watch, which includes Vadnais Drive, Jackson Street and four nearby houses. Through a newsletter, caring neighbors and a meeting with police, she made people more aware of how they can help one another be safer. Because they learned to share information and now know one another better, they may be more likely to notice unusual activity and report it.
Miss Powers wants to expand the crime watch to more streets in south central Windsor Locks. Townspeople should support her. Police cannot be everywhere. They need residents' help. An extended neighborhood watch should give police - and citizens - many more eyes and ears.
Parents in Windsor Locks who are worried about rumors of gang activity should respond to the good advice of Schools Superintendent June Hartford-Alley. At a meeting with parents on preventing gang activity, Mrs. Hartford-Alley said stopping gangs is not just the job of police and schools. Parents, as a group, must help their own teenagers and one another's, she said.
Parents' talking to one another is a way to sort out rumor and truth, share ideas and learn to handle family problems better. One parent suggested forming a support group. Improved communication among parents could help keep teenagers away from gangs.