Villages of Viera East

Homeowners Association

Neighborhood Watch

Dear Residents of Somerville, Bennington, and Templeton:

A Neighborhood Watch Program (“NWP”) is a proactive approach to protecting our community from crime and violence. In a nutshell, it’s a program where residents agree to look out for one another while conducting their normal, everyday activities and to become the extra eyes and ears for local Law Enforcement.

An NWP has a Coordinator and a few Block Captains, but most residents fall in a General Membership category. For General Membership, residents are asked to:

o Be alert to suspicious activity in their neighborhoods;

o Report suspicious activity and crimes in progress to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office;

o Report to Block Captains information that was provided to the Sheriff’s Office; and

o Attend at least one NWP meeting per year (approximately a one-hour meeting held in our community on a crime prevention topic, sponsored and presented by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Crime Prevention Unit). The estimated commitment of time to our community for General Membership is less than two hours per year, and, of course,

membership may be discontinued at any time.

In addition to the tasks listed for General Membership, Block Captains are asked to: act as a “contact person” for their part of the neighborhood (approximately five homes in their immediate area), disseminate information from the NWP Coordinator to their “block” residents, and relay information or concerns from their “block” residents to the Coordinator. The estimated commitment of time to our community for Block Captains is less than three hours per year, and,

of course, Block Captains may resign their positions/membership in the NWP at any time.

If you are interested in joining our NWP, please complete the form below and forward it to: Terry Mott in Bennington at 4899 Wexford Drive; call 632-3093 for further assistance.

YES, PLEASE SIGN ME/MY HOUSEHOLD UP for General Membership in the

Viera East Villages Neighborhood Watch Program

Name (please print) ___________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________

            ____________________________________________

Phone Number: (home) ________________________

                        (work) ____________________________

E-mail address: _______________________________________

(Signature of Homeowner)____________________________________

ADDITIONALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO SERVE AS A BLOCK CAPTAIN: YES___NO__

Neighborhood Watch Program Information

 

Be Alert for Suspicious Activity in Your Neighborhood:

o Dogs barking;

o Broken glass or sounds of breaking glass; and

o Open doors or windows at a neighbor’s residence while they are away.

Be Aware of Strangers in Your Neighborhood:

o Door-to-door salespeople or solicitors (see note below);

o Children or teenagers loitering during school hours;

o Strangers loading furniture, televisions, etc., into vehicles;

o People representing themselves as servicemen or government employees; and

o Strangers knocking on your door asking for someone who doesn’t live at your address.

Always ask for identification. All solicitors should have a permit. If they don’t, call the Sheriff’s office (Note: Soliciting is not allowed in our community).

Watch for Suspicious Cars on Your Street:

o Cars that don’t belong;

o Vehicles cruising around through your neighborhood;

o Abandoned vehicles; and

o Unfamiliar vehicles in a neighbor’s driveway while they are away.

Don’t Hesitate to Report Suspicious Activity to the Sheriff’s Office:

o Keep a pencil and paper available near the phone at all times;

o Do not attempt to take things into your own hands; and

o Call the police and provide them with as much information as you can, i.e., description direction of travel, tag number and any other details you observe.

Don’t assume that someone else has called the Sheriff’s office – Call them yourself at once.

 FOR NON-EMERGENCIES: Contact the Brevard Sheriff’s Office at their non-emergency

number for Central Brevard: 633-7162

 FOR EMERGENCIES: DIAL 911

 NOTE: Personal information collected from residents is to be used to conduct NWP business and is not to be distributed in any form to anyone outside of the Viera East Villages NWP network.