UNITED NEIGHBORS CARING NEWS AND ALERTS - October 1, 2011
The following is reprinted from "Neighbors Helping Neighbors"***
PUBLIC SAFETY RECOGNITION BARBECUE NEXT THURS., 10/6, 11 AM – 1 PM AT OC FAIR MILLENNIUM BARN
Where else can we neighbors get a good lunch for $10 AND get to meet and greet our favorite police officers, new police chief, firefighters and 911 operators. The Chamber of Commerce would like RSVPs at www.costamesachamber.com OR 714 885-9090, so they can guess how much food to have, but you can just pay at the door if you find you can come.
WESTSIDE COSTA MESANS ASK FOR NEIGHBORHOOD NAME CLARIFICATION- WHICH ONE IS WHERE?
As reference, look at the radio operator’s ID map found on cmprepared.com under Radios and directly linked here. Note the city is divided in 3 areas, Area 1 is west of Harbor. Area 2 is between Harbor and Newport. Area 3 is east of Newport. Each area is divided into sections and assigned a letter of the alphabet. Knowing this will also help you identify where people live when they are using their FRS/GMRS radio call signs. I live in Halecrest/Hall of Fame, which is 2 Foxtrot and my call sign is 2Foxtrot 2 Diane. Starting with Area 1, section B through I – above Fairview State Hospital – is generally Mesa Verde. Section B which is above Gisler is Mesa Verde North and within that, above Iowa and north of the storm drain is the Moon Park neighborhood. Sections C, D, E, F and G, between Gisler and Adams make up Central Mesa Verde. The east side of D below the cemetery is known as the Spice Streets. E is known as the Balearic area, F is the inner circle, inside Mesa Verde Drive. Section H, below Adams and west of Placentia, is known as the Lower Bird Streets, or Lower Birds. Section I, between Placentia and Harbor, is known as the Upper Bird Streets, or Upper Birds. All the Mesa Verde neighborhoods are in various stages of organizing, with everything above Adams organized to the point of having a list of neighborhood Contacts who have each other’s contact info and can communicate between neighborhoods in an area, such as across all of Central Mesa Verde or all of Mesa Verde North. There aren’t many human residents in Sections J and K, which hold Fairview Park, Costa Mesa Country Club, Estancia High School and Fairview State Hospital. Below that is generally known as the West Side. Within that you will find the Darrell Street neighborhood, Seabluff Canyon Village, National below Oak area, California Seabreeze, and Kenwood Pl. neighborhood which are in various degrees of being organized and Playport Mobile Homes, which is completely organized, hosts CERT training sessions for the community and holds preparedness drills. In Area 2, if anyone knows someone from the neighborhood in Section A, I would love to meet them, for they are very isolated from the rest. Section C has Wimbledon, Mesa Woods and Greenbrook. Greenbrook is known by the police as the Flower Streets. Section D includes the 3400 complex, formerly known as The Lakes, east of South Coast Plaza. Section E includes The Enclave. Section F includes Halecrest and Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame describes the 197 homes east and north of Killybrooke School. Halecrest includes the 420 homes between Hall of Fame and Baker. The police call that area the Irish Streets. The French Quarter condos are along Gisler between these homes and Harbor. There are more than 100 Street Contact teams in Halecrest/Hall of Fame. The Street Contact list spanning the neighborhood is often used. Section G is mostly Mesa North with small developments on both sides of the 73 freeway. Section H is east of Bear and includes Promenade and the Trinity/Platte neighborhood, just south of Trinity Broadcasting. Section H also includes the Brookview/Traverse neighborhood east of Bristol. Section J above the Fairgrounds is Mesa del Mar with some scattered organizing. Section L is College Park and Section M is College Park South with some apt. areas close to Wilson. Section N includes Monticello at the corner of Fairview and Fair, the city complex and Vanguard University The Area 2 neighborhoods mentioned have some level of organizing going on, with Monticello and both parts of College Park newly set up with contact lists for different streets. Area 3 below the industrial area is generally known as the East Side. There are neighborhood pockets in Area 3 that are organizing. In Section D there are the Laurel Point Townhomes and a group in the 2500 block of Santa Ana. In Section F there is the Brentwood neighborhood around Brentwood Park and an apt. complex in the 2300 block of Elden. In Section J there is a group on E. 18th and another on Flower. In Section K there is some organizing going on around Esther and Tustin. We know apt. and condo complexes scattered throughout the city have names. We look forward to hearing from other area groups who have a neighborhood name.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STREET CONTACT AND A KEY CONTACT?
Street Contacts work with their block, a couple of blocks or a street. They make sure their neighbors get these newsletters. In an emergency, Street Contacts would communicate with their neighbors. Neighbors in a neighborhood would have a list of all the Street Contacts in their neighborhood, which they use as an emergency phone network when needed. Any neighbor can call a Street Contact on another street in their neighborhood to find out what is going on or warn them of something to be alert for. Key Contacts work with several or many Street Contacts. Cpl. Johnson has a list of all the Key Contacts and can contact them if he needs to reach a particular neighborhood quickly. Key Contacts are known to their neighbors and know their neighborhood Street Contacts, so they can facilitate the spread of emergency messages across the neighborhood. Some neighborhoods have a Key Contact team, so there is more chance that one of them is always around. Key Contacts are only known to their neighborhood/area and Cpl. Johnson. They are not known to the whole city. In a very large community area, such as Central Mesa Verde, there are several different Neighborhood Watching groups working side by side. Each group has a Key Contact. That whole community area has the list of their Key Contacts, so they can refer friends on different streets to the appropriate Neighborhood Watching group that covers that street. We are grateful so many have stepped forward to be Key Contacts. There are only a couple of streets there that do not have Key Contacts or Street Contacts: Barbados, Labrador, Sumatra/Samoa-Gibraltar. If you know anyone who lives on those streets, please ask them to call me or reply to this newsletter. In some areas just getting organized, Street Contacts are also Key Contacts because there is no Key Contact over them. This at least makes it possible for Cpl. Johnson to reach someone in the neighborhood if he needs to. As things develop, one or two usually take on being Key Contact for the whole area and the others are Street Contacts within the area. Key Contacts have told me what areas they are working with. Their position is an important part of the telephone safety net. It does not require extra work, just being available as you go about your regular busy day in case Cpl. Johnson needs to reach your neighborhood. If your situation changes and you are no longer able to be a Key Contact or the area you are working with changes, please let us know, so Cpl. Johnson’s list is accurate.
MORE TO THE UPS BOX SCAM STORY
We are very grateful the story was shared, so we all could be on alert. Other realtors had not heard of it and gave us a link to one of the local realtors’ associations, who were glad to hear about the issue, put it out to the other local associations and they all sent a blast to their realtors to alert them. We heard from one realtor with an office in Irvine saying thank you and asking to receive the newsletters at his home in Costa Mesa. He is now a Street Contact.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM HOUSE ON YOUR BLOCK?
Organize the rest of your neighbors so you can communicate easily with each other. Become educated, watchful and call the police immediately when you see something suspicious going on. Let Cpl. Johnson or Off. Trevino know if there is a continuing problem. Here are some tips others have used:
- Take a photo of every car that enters the street. Include the car license if possible. Log the date and time and write down the car license if you could not get a picture. If you can, get a picture or description of the driver, but do not approach or confront. Use a telephoto lens from a window. Do not give the person any reason to want to get back at you later.
- If a stranger walks slowly or loiters along your street, just happen to go out and open and close your garage door. This tells him there are people watching without confronting him.
- If a strange car is parked and is suspicious, press the emergency button on your car to make it honk several times. This works well to alert the neighbors to look and watch, IF you have all agreed on this signal beforehand.
- Be sure you all take the regular security precautions around your property and have motion lights, so there are no dark places.
- Be cautious, but don’t give up. If you work together and take turns watching, you can gather a lot of information that is helpful to the police.
DAVE SHARED THIS DAILY PILOT ARTICLE FROM 9/26 ASKING WHAT TO DO? ANSWER FOLLOWS
POLICE: MAN FLASHED BADGE TO GAIN ENTRYBy Lauren WilliamsSeptember 26, 2011 | 8:17 p.m.Police on Monday were searching for a man who they say flashed a badge to gain entry into a Corona del Mar home before he ransacked it.Police are also looking for his two female accomplices.Officers received a residential burglary report in the 200 block of Iris Avenue at about 3:15 p.m. Friday, said Newport police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.According to a police account of the events, a man wearing a star-shaped badge claimed to be part of a law enforcement organization and went to the home of an elderly woman. He asked for access to her backyard because he said he was looking for someone.The elderly woman then went to the rear of her home and saw the man standing there. He then told her to wait outside while he checked the area.After two or three minutes, the woman tried to get into her home, but realized she had been locked out.She then walked to the front, where she saw the man and two women sitting in a vehicle.One of the women said she would help the victim get back into her home, and walked with her to the back.The suspect then walked back to the front of the house. The victim followed her and saw all three suspects flee in a white pickup truck.After entering her home, the woman noticed her bedroom had been ransacked.The male suspect is described as a 40-year-old Latino, with a dark shirt, pants, sunglasses and black gloves. The women are white, with average builds and about 5 foot 2 inches tall.One of the women, also about 40, had an Eastern European accent, possibly Polish, and crooked teeth. The estimated age of the second female suspect was not available.lauren.williams@latimes.comCPL. JOHNSON REPLIES Ask to see an ID card and you can always call 714-754-5252 dispatch and see if they have an officer at the location.
SUPPORT NMUSD SCHOOLS AT OCTOBER 22 GALA –
DETAILS AT THIS LINK http://cmhs.nmusd.us/
A HALECREST NEIGHBOR TELLS OF MIDNIGHT ACTIVITY
I live on Donnybrook Ln. On Tues. night around midnight my husband watched and confronted a man putting small flyers on cars that are for a "weight loss challenge." This morning when I took my daughter to school I could see that he pretty much covered the whole neighboorhood. Due to all of the burglaries I thought this to be really strange. The man was about 6ft, white, around 25 to 30 years old, wearing a white t-shirt and slacks. He was walking. The phone number on the flyer is 714 679-8211, no company name just asking to join "a weight loss challenge." We talked the next morning after she sent this. Her husband happened to be outside and saw the walker by her car. Doing this activity after dark is suspicious to begin with and at midnight is very suspicious. If this happens in your neighborhood, do not let the walker know you see him. Call the police immediately with description and direction, so they have a chance to talk with him if they are not too busy.
LORI SHARES THIS FROM THE O.C. REGISTER ONLINE – FOR EVERYONE TO BE ALERT
Woman's jewelry stolen at gunpoint in daytime robberyPublished: Sept. 29, 2011 Updated: 9:32 p.m.By SEAN EMERY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERSEAL BEACH – Police seek a man who stole jewelry from a woman he held at gunpoint during a midday robbery Thursday in a Seal Beach parking lot.Officers about 2:30 p.m. responded to reports of a robbery in the parking lot of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 12300 block of Seal Beach Boulevard.ADVERTISEMENTPolice say a woman was walking through the parking lot when she was approached by a man who pulled a handgun and demanded her jewelry.The man reportedly took an undisclosed amount of jewelry, then got into the passenger's side of a waiting car, which drove off in an unknown direction.No injuries were reported.Authorities described the robber as a Hispanic man in his early 20s, who was wearing a white T-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap.Police have not released a description of the getaway car or of the driver, who they described only as a male.Police are asking anyone with information about the robbery to call the Seal Beach Police Department at 562-799-4115, or detective Gary Krogman at 562-799-4100, Ext. 1108.Contact the writer: 714-796-7939 or semery@ocregister.com
KELLY BLUE BOOK WARNS OF CAR SCAM – FROM 9/25 OC REGISTER
Online scammers are using a fake Kelley Blue Book website to sell a “protection program” to used-car buyers. “Until these sites are removed from the Internet, car shoppers should know that any type of online consumer escrow service backed by our company is a scam.”
IF YOU BUY PHARMACEUTICAL PRESCRIPTIONS ONLINE, DON’T FALL FOR THIS SCAM –DESCRIBED ON THE MORNING RADIO NEWS THIS WEEK
The caller poses as a DEA Agent and says you have been indicted and will be prosecuted in a foreign country unless you pay.. and people are frightened and pay.***
“Neighbors Helping Neighbors”
Diane Hill: (714) 546-4252 Voice (714) 540-1288 FAXunitedneighbors@cmprepared.com