This is a snippet from a neighborhood watch meeting announcement in my neighborhood...

Quote :

"In addition to Officer Taylor bringing us up to date regarding police activity in Smathville* we will also be unveiling the new Smathville Suspicious Activity Reporting System. We are proud to inform everyone that Smathville will be the first community on the East Coast to implement such a system. You will be able to go into Smathville.org and report a crime or activity that would be of interest to the police in helping us to keep criminal activity out of Smathville. The site will lead you through the steps necessary to give meaningful information to aid the police. This information will be automatically forwarded to our community officer who will then take the appropriate steps. I am really proud of the fact that Officer Taylor was able to enlist our resident Web mistress Monica Lewinsky to put together this system. So. please, come to the Neighborhood Watch Meeting and be among the first to view this wonderful addition to our growing arsenal of crime fighting tools that will continue to keep Smathville safe and secure."

I feel like this is very Big Brother... am I over reacting? under reacting? What are your thoughts on this? I will say that I asked them to post more information and was immediately told I would have to come to the meeting to get more information and then they went off on a whole "this is a good thing" speech about how "things aren't like they used to be"

*names and places have been changed because big brother is watching.

9/27/2012 11:11:25 AM

We have cameras up in my neighborhood, seriously

9/27/2012 11:12:24 AM

George Zimmerman

9/27/2012 11:13:31 AM

So rather than calling the police if you suspect criminal activity you go to the neighborhood website? I think I'll stick with calling the police. Only people who will use that website are stay at home moms and retirees that think everything is suspicious activity.

9/27/2012 11:16:45 AM

it can go either way - it could be a good thing for reporting truly suspicious behavior and keeping crime down in the neighborhood OR it could become the most ridiculous thing ever where people use it as a sounding board to report petty things that neighbors are doing (kind of like when people call 911 because McDonalds is out of chicken nuggets )

^ oh that's true too. so what is the process once something is reported? you should ask that question at the meeting. like if someone reports something, who notifies the police? who takes on the responsibility of the action? are the police aware there is this website being set up within this community?

[Edited on September 27, 2012 at 11:20 AM. Reason : good questions to ask]

9/27/2012 11:19:13 AM

Quote :

"it could become the most ridiculous thing ever where people use it as a sounding board to report petty things that neighbors are doing "

this is pretty much all it will ever be.

be prepared to get reports of who doesn't pick up their dog's shit and who drives home too late with their music too loud.

9/27/2012 11:22:01 AM

^this

sounds like your neighborhood might be trying to actually save the police hassle by giving paranoia retirees a place to file a report everytime a "suspicious" person walks down your street.

if a real crime is in progress, everyone knows to call 911

9/27/2012 11:22:36 AM

well apparently we have a "community officer" who is supposed to "monitor" the site.

I think. It's hard to get information about this mess.

[Edited on September 27, 2012 at 11:43 AM. Reason : ]

9/27/2012 11:42:06 AM

Not picking up dog shit SHOULD be reported

9/27/2012 11:44:26 AM

Quote :

"We have cameras up in my neighborhood, seriously"

this is not a new thing.. several neighborhoods around raleigh have had cameras up for 10 years or so

9/27/2012 11:55:18 AM

I was expecting retro stuff like dayglo and 80s music not George Orwell stuff.

9/27/2012 12:03:45 PM

^ha! I did think about that after I typed the title

9/27/2012 12:12:22 PM

Quote :

"Not picking up dog shit SHOULD be reported"

do you REALLY think this type of thing is what police time should be spent dealing with?

9/27/2012 12:13:32 PM

You should have changed the web mistresses name to Maude Flanders rather than Monica Lewinsky.




I would go to the meeting and tell them that 911 is the proper police interface and I don't appreciate them wasting my money on a useless website that provides no actual value. I would ask if "Ms Lewinsky" is being paid for these services and demand a stop if any payments are being rendered. Anything that isn't worth a call to 911 isn't worth submitting to this website and it will only serve to feed the gossip machine in the neighborhood.

If they still want to go through it tell them that all comments should be public record and no anonymous users should be allowed. Otherwise it'll just become a tool for people to make anonymous accusations without proper supporting evidence. Accusations which can hurt a person's livelihood and damage a person's experience within the community should not be taken lightly.

My neighbor called 911 on a guy who was trying to get into my roommate's car two days ago. I sure am glad she did that rather than submitting a form on a website for someone to read at a later time. He was arrested and charged with four felonys and a misdemeanor.

[Edited on September 27, 2012 at 12:21 PM. Reason : l]

9/27/2012 12:17:53 PM

^ha... i chose the name i did because the real name was "Paula Jones"

9/27/2012 12:34:23 PM

Quote :

"do you REALLY think this type of thing is what police time should be spent dealing with?"

no, it should be reported to your Smathville activity reporting system which is why this sytem is great.

9/27/2012 12:36:13 PM

I think you meant:

"I think my neighborhood is becoming Oceania, or Airstrip One"

9/27/2012 12:36:44 PM

Quote :

"no, it should be reported to your Smathville activity reporting system which is why this sytem is great."

uh... you mean the reporting system that will be followed up by the police?

^technically I suppose, although far fewer people would have understood the reference.

[Edited on September 27, 2012 at 12:39 PM. Reason : ]

9/27/2012 12:38:21 PM

As I understand it, the reports go to your community officer who will then send to police. If I'm misunderstanding that, or your community officer IS the police, then this system seems like a perfect place for abuse.

Overall I think systems like this are okay, I think people should have more options than just 911 to report crimes. But it needs to be made clear, or then yeah, everyone will complain about everything.

9/27/2012 12:43:24 PM

You ever see that movie, Hot Fuzz?

9/27/2012 12:55:57 PM

it cant be "smathville" if youre the one living in fear and in control of nothing.

9/27/2012 12:58:43 PM

Quote :

" our resident Web mistress Monica Lewinsky to put together this system"

9/27/2012 1:40:03 PM

Sounds like Zimmerville

9/27/2012 1:47:47 PM

so i wonder if this means your HOA dues will go up?

9/27/2012 1:59:49 PM

SOMEONE IS BREAKING INTO MY HOUSE!!

LET ME GO TO MY COMMUNITY WEBSITE TO SEND AN ALERT TO THE POLICE!!!




...then I'll get on TWW and let them know, too!

9/27/2012 2:27:59 PM

Quote :

"I think people should have more options than just 911 to report crimes."

Yeah, they can call the non-emergency line or go to the police station. If I'm reporting a crime, I'm not reporting it to some ninnies on a community message board before contacting the police. Now if I'm just bitching about my neighbor not picking up his shit in his front yard, then I'll write up a nastigram on the community website.

9/27/2012 2:50:49 PM

when i call 911 with a non-emergency issue i just tell them clearly at the beginning that this is a non-emergency and its never been a problem at all

i do it to tell them about damaged utilities, overly drunk people, etc

9/27/2012 3:34:21 PM

Quote :

"As I understand it, the reports go to your community officer who will then send to police. If I'm misunderstanding that, or your community officer IS the police, then this system seems like a perfect place for abuse."

the community officer is the police.

9/27/2012 4:05:32 PM

I have to wonder if police officers are amused or really annoyed by getting contacted for trivial things. Probably a little of both.

9/27/2012 4:23:45 PM

Raleigh has see click fix, and police respond to some of those posts
http://seeclickfix.com/raleigh

9/27/2012 5:42:41 PM

http://seeclickfix.com/issues/239426

Quote :

"s dealing pot. I threatened to call the cops on him today when he actually started smoking a bowl behind the bus stop. I told him I wasn't going to let him disrespect my school. "

Sounds like he knows where to find a steady supply of customers lol

9/27/2012 5:55:06 PM

Damn, I have to drive to north hills for my dealer, this is way closer.

Thanks, Internet

9/27/2012 6:02:43 PM

http://crc.raleighpd.org/

9/28/2012 12:41:38 AM

I refuse to live anywhere where the "community" is so god damn nosey and bored that they have to form a neighborhood watch or some equally annoying fucking committee

9/28/2012 12:56:34 AM

enjoy your neighbors with tall grass and rusty cars

9/28/2012 7:49:13 AM

We have an online reporting system for our neighborhood watch as well.
It is clearly stated that for emergencies or concerns you should call 911, but if you fill out our report form then we can let the neighborhood know and more people can be aware of what is going on.

9/28/2012 8:48:09 AM

It can't possibly be any more retarded than my neighborhood listserve (Trinity Park in Durham). I'm not on it,
but my boyfriend is, and he frequently forwards me the "gems" of the listserve- reporting "suspicious people"
(i.e. the black Duke students who live in some of the nearby brownstones, or random black people on their way home from downtown, or gee, anywhere, as we're >50% black population), complaining about parties and noise (being 1 block from Duke and Brightleaf Square), people complaining about others putting bagged dog shit in their garbage cans, and all the parking problems (again, being close to Duke, a Jewish synagogue, and several Protestant churches).

I want to be like "YOU LIVE IN A CITY. FUCKING MOVE TO CARY THEN."

9/28/2012 10:11:48 AM

Quote :

"You should have changed the web mistresses name to Maude Flanders Helen Lovejoy rather than Monica Lewinsky."

/Simpsonsnerd

9/28/2012 10:41:20 AM

^^ haha a friend of mine that lives in the neighborhood behind Hillsborough St. says their listserv is the exact same way.

9/28/2012 11:02:11 AM

IT BEGINS:

Quote :

"It may seem petty to so.e that they allow their dog to deficate and not remove it, but it is still a crime. Same as a leash law violation. Trespassing is a crime as well so maybe by having a means of exposing the culprits they would finally get the message. I would rather have someone notify authorities of a petty crime or suspicious activity before something major happens. And having the means made easier will allow that."

typical post from one of the neighborhood busybodies.

9/28/2012 11:05:43 AM

hahaha how am I not surprised the first complaint is about dog poop?

9/28/2012 11:33:44 AM

this reminds me to report every single person who lets their cat out without a leash, fuck those people

9/28/2012 11:44:27 AM

dog poop: the gateway to robbery/rape/murder

9/28/2012 11:47:46 AM

Quote :

"Deficate"

9/28/2012 11:50:45 AM

This kind of shit makes me want to live in the woods.

9/28/2012 11:58:27 AM

Quote :

" I think my neighborhood country is becoming 1984 "

9/28/2012 12:16:37 PM

fuck that, I just hung up a trail camera to get proof which neighbor is letting their dog shit in my side yard. It's not okay to let your dog shit everywhere.

9/28/2012 12:33:16 PM

i mean am I wrong here? I am literally the ONLY person who objects to this system on our community message board

9/28/2012 12:36:51 PM

yes, lots of places have these. you're not the first on the east coast.

Why is this a big deal? It's not like they aren't already complaining, gossiping about, and reporting these things.

9/28/2012 12:39:41 PM

Skack has the right idea. Who is paying for this? Is your HOA dues increasing?

9/28/2012 12:41:42 PM