JULY 1, 2017
by Barbara Beech
What is Neighborhood Watch?
- Program designed to increase neighborhood livability by reducing crime & fear of crime.
- Teaches citizens techniques to reduce the risk of being victimized at home and in public.
- Teaches participants how to make their homes more secure and properly identify their items.
- Trains citizens on the importance of recognizing suspicious activities and to report them.
What Neighborhood Watch is not.
- A vigilante force working outside the normal procedures of law enforcement.
- A program designed for participants to take personal risks to prevent crime.
- A 100% guarantee that crime will not occur in your neighborhood.
Barefoot Resort Residential Association (BRRA) has a Neighborhood Watch program which consists of a Neighborhood Watch Coordinator, Assistant Neighborhood Watch coordinator for single family homes and an Assistant Neighborhood Watch coordinator for multi-family communities. There are also block captains that volunteer in each community to pass along information. We also have a liaison officer, Officer William McLeod, from the North Myrtle Beach Department of Public Safety assigned to work with us in Barefoot to address any issues or concerns.
Officer William McLeod
office 843-280- 5623
Barbara Beech of Spoonbill Circle in the Dye Estates is the Dye Estates captain and current BRRA Neighborhood Watch Coordinator. If you wish to contact Barbara or be added to Barbara’s email distribution list, you can email her at NeighborhoodwatchBRRA@gmail.com.
Sarah Jane Slaughter is the Assistant Neighborhood Watch coordinator for Multi-Family communities.
Val Maleckar is the Assistant Neighborhood Watch coordinator for Single Family communities.
We are currently looking for a replacement for Val since his two year term on the committee expired last year but he has graciously agreed to stay on until we fill his position. If you are interested please contact fill out a committee application or contact Barbara.
Sign up for alerts…
The Neighborhood Watch Committee recommends that you sign up for Nixle and Code Red if you haven’t done so already to be notified of significant events that affect NMB.
Nixle—text messaging or computer alert. (Register at http://www.nixle.com. Type in Location: Highway 17 S & Barefoot Bridge Road) Nixle is a free service (some cell phone providers charge a fee for text messaging) that allows you to receive trusted, up-to- the-minute neighbor-hood information such as urgent public safety alerts, time sensitive advisories, and community information for where you live, work, or visit throughout the country.
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Code Red Mobile Alert —free app on your cell phone. Go to Applications & search. Load it, open, register e-mail address and set up a password. Select settings (Emergency, Community, Missing Persons are preloaded, but you can delete ones you don’t want. Other settings include Severe Weather Warnings (weather is free for the first month; you can pay $1 to add a year), Sound & Radius. To keep Code Red active, do not sign off.
April workshop…
In April the Neighborhood Watch Committee sponsored a presentation open to all Community Captains where Officer McLeod discussed the Neighborhood Watch program and the need to report suspicious activity. Officer McLeod mentioned that North Myrtle Beach does have a low rate of crime when considering the number of tourists that visit each year. Officer Mcleod is available to come to any community to provide more detail or answer questions. Contact Barbara if you would like to schedule a meeting.