Committee Chair Wanted! Please see Home page for details. Emergency Preparedness  Kathleen Moneymaker showed us the latest NET fashions in November. Read more about NET, CERT, and Neighborhood Watch in the December article. Maplewood Articles We'll post updates to SW Neighborhoods preparedness plans as they become available. http://www.swni.org/ep Mail Theft, Vandalism Hit Maplewood in November What you can do: Call 911 for crimes in progress. Call the non-emergency number to the police at 503-823-3333 for crimes that have already happened or suspicious activity. When it comes to suspicious activity, if you suspect that what you are seeing is a crime in progress, call 911; for example, if you see someone looking in a number of cars while walking down your street, you can call the non-emergency number to report the suspicious behavior. However, if they are checking door handles, you can call 9-1-1. With mail theft, assume identity theft is a strong possibility. Notify the US Post Office and file a police report. Call one of the three credit bureaus to place a temporary fraud alert on their credit reports. Calling one will take care of all:
The alert only lasts 90 days. For a more permanent alert, the credit bureaus need a police report. Please see http://ftc.gov/idtheft for more information. The alerts should indicate to a lender that they should take extra precautions to verify your identity; however, some will be more diligent about this than others. Placing a freeze on credit with each of the bureaus is a very effective way to prevent others from opening up any loans or credit card accounts in your name. For identity theft victims, there should not be a fee for freezing credit reports, but you will have to provide certain information such as the police report. The problem is that if you want to open a new credit card account or take out a loan, you would have to lift the freeze on your credit report at least temporarily with each of the three bureaus, which can take time (this would cost $$ for non-victims who want to freeze or unfreeze their report). Again see the ftc.gov website for more information. If you see graffiti or vandalism, please take a picture of the graffiti and submit the picture to the following database at the City of Portland’s Graffiti Abatement program:http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=46186&a=286366 . By submitting graffiti the Graffiti Abatement Coordinator will contact the property owner; whether that is the city or other government agency, a business, private property owner; to clean up the graffiti, since that is one of the best ways to prevent further instances. Additionally if a graffiti tagger is arrested, the police and District Attorney refer to this database to determine what other damages were inflicted by the offender. Vandalism should be reported to the non-emergency number unless you witness the perpetrator in the act. Than you should call 9-1-1. Car Prowls: What you can do: You and your neighbors play a significant role in preventing crime. Looking out for your neighbors’ as well as your own belongings is an important aspect of crime prevention. Some crime prevention tips:
For more tips, see the flyer Car Prowl Prevention at www.portlandonline.com/oni/cp, crime prevention resources, handouts. (Direct Link: http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=53530&a=320547) Public Safety News Crimes may be going unreported. Local officers and neighbors have expressed concern that minor crimes, such as car prowls, are going unreported. People with stolen items that are of lesser value or where no loss or damage is under there insurance deductible may believe that there is no benefit in reporting the crime. Unfortunately, underreporting of crimes makes our neighborhood look safer than it is for property crimes and may lead to fewer resources being assigned in this area. In the event that you become a victim to theft or other crimes, please be sure to file a report with the Portland Police Bureau at 503-823-3333 or online at www.portlandonline.com/police/cor. SW Crime Prevention InformationMany of you may have met Stefanie Adams, Crime Prevention Coordinator here in the SW Neighborhoods. Stefanie is a great resource for residents who have questions about local public safety and crime issues. She is also our liaison with the Portland Police Bureau and our neighborhood response officers. Stefanie Adams, Crime Prevention Coordinator Office of Neighborhood Involvement Southwest Neighborhoods 503-823-3131 Stefanie.Adams@portlandoregon.gov The Southwest Crime Prevention web page can be found here, with links to a variety of information. Page with form to find neighborhood crime statistics. Portland Crime Stats Crime Prevention Documents Educational information on crime prevention topics. Portland Police Bureau Information Information and documents from the Portland Police Bureau on the Neighborhood Response Team and Neighborhood Liaison Officer Programs. CrimeMapperCrimeMapper is a map, updated monthly, provided by the Portland Police Bureau that shows crime in the Maplewood area over a running 12 month period. SW 55th & Nevada Court seems to be the intersection that covers most, if not all, of Maplewood but you can change the address by clicking on the New Search link at the top of the map page when it has loaded. You can view the map online. All content on this site Copyright © by attributed authors, or by SW Neighborhoods, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7688 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR 97219, Voice: 503-823-4592 A nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. Your gift is 100% tax-deductible (EIN: 93-0717013) |
Public Safety & Crime Prevention |