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Dear Neighbors and Members of the Security Patrol,
The first quarter of the Security Patrol in our neighborhood is almost up. We started the Security Patrol service April 1st, 2008 with 57 members. In just our first 3 months, we have grown to over 70 members and as more and more people see the difference we are making, we continue to grow . Every new member adds additional patrol time and increases the effectiveness of our patrol, so please continue to help us get the word out.
At this point, our Officer patrols the neighborhood every week, and based on current membership levels, we are on the verge of consistant 3 shift coverage. He has been providing assistance to all the members and you should all know that you can call him at any time. His routine duties include: checking vacant houses, checking car tags for current registration and insurance, watching for any drug activity and reporting to drug suppression unit, watching members’ houses while they are out of town, assisting beat officer whenever needed, and responding to any 911 calls in the area. We have truly made him feel a partner in improving the neighborhood and often his commitment to the neighborhood extends to his beat shifts. He has even been effective in organizing on-duty officers to participate in a drug checkpoint.
Our goal is to improve safety thereby strengthening the positive community in our neighborhood. Here are a few of our accomplishments:  - arresting a copper thief thanks to the information from one of our neighbors
- one felony arrest and one stolen gun confiscated thanks to the road blocks organized by our officer in cooperation with police
- several abandoned cars impounded
- consistent monitoring of drug activity in certain areas of the neighborhood resulting in arresting 6 people by the crime suppression unit
- stopping several burglary suspects with hand tools wandering around houses
- reporting back to the precinct, which resulted in the increase of police visibility in the residential area
- 2 minutes response time to the assault on one of our neighbors at the Public Library, providing help, and immediately looking for suspects
The Security Patrol has proven to be an effective solution to fight crime in our neighborhood and neighborhoods around the city. It would not be efficient without members support and involvement by providing valuable information to the Officer. We would like to thank all the members for their participation and contributing to making West End a better place to live. If you know a neighbor who has not signed up yet, please talk to them. WE NEED YOU! Every additional member makes our Security Service stronger and brings benefit not only to you but to our West End Community as a whole.
We are always working on new ways to improve the security patrol and our most recent improvement (soon to be implemented) is the addition of a second officer. The increased membership and ability for us to have more shifts has allowed us the opportunity to have two officers as part of the program, each working enough time each month and receiving enough money from the patrol to give them a truly vested interest in the community. Having two "primary" officers will increase our scheduling flexibility and have an additional officer coming up with ideas and advocating for us while they are on duty.
After being brought to life through the hard work of Darek Piecuch and Ewelina Mieszkalska, the Patrol will now be managed jointly by John Pavlin and Michael Joseph. John and Michael will be focused on looking for ways to improve the Patrol now that it is fully up and running, and standardizing the policies and procedures to ensure the long term success of the program.
Now is the time to sign up or renew the membership. We would like to remind you that the first quarter ends June 30th and payments for the second quarter are due July 1st. You can mail or deliver your payment to 662 Grady Pl. SW, or go to our website atlantawestend.com (Click here: PAY ) and pay with PayPal (check is prefered as Paypal currently costs ~$2 per transaction). Also, you can bring your payment to WEND meeting on July 1st at 7.00 pm at the library.
The quarterly fee is $70.00 for existing residential members and $115.00 for business members. If you are a new member please add $10.00 for the sign. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Michael 504-931-6711 John 404-456-4118
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