Neighborhood Watch Program
The Austin Police Department will hold a Neighborhood Watch Meeting at their
South Austin Police Substation at 404 Ralph Ablanedo Dr. (near Slaughter Ln. and S. 1st Street) on the second Tuesday of every month at 6:30 PM

Map Link: http://tinyurl.com/34b8op

The following information was presented at the January 2008 HOA Board meeting by our Southwest District Representative for the Austin Police Department, Officer Dwayne Kinley.

(a) Main things to keep our community safe:

(i) Keep your eyes and ears open
(ii) Communicate with your neighbors
(iii) Call officers to keep them informed

• Dial 911 if it's an emergency
• Dial 311 if it's not an emergency, but request that a police report be made
• Contact our current Police representative, Joshua Visi at 512-974-4260 and/or email him at Joshua.Visi@ci.austin.tx.us

(iv) Keep Carl Gamble in the loop by contacting him at carl.gamble@goodwintx.com or 431-2400
(v) E-mail the Oak Parke HOA Board (see web site for e-mail information)

(b) Get to know your neighbors.

(i) Get to know your neighbors and communicate with them, so that you know the times when they're at home and when they're at work.
(ii) Exchange phone numbers and e-mail addresses so that you may contact your neighbors if you see something suspicious.
(iii) It is a very good idea to make friends with neighbors if you know that they're at home all day or most of the day. That way, you can inform them of times when you're away so that they can assist in watching your home.

(c) Residential Parking Permit Program. Officer Kinley reported that all homeowners whose property is affected by the Residential Parking Permit Program have been notified. This program is in affect to help with problems related to the students loitering, littering, blocking driveways, and also to deter vandalism.

(d) Curfew for Children. The following curfews are currently in effect for children:

Morning curfew: 9:30 AM All Days
Evening curfew: 11:30 PM Sunday through Thursday
Weekend evening curfew: 12:30 AM Friday and Saturday
Please report any violations of the above curfew by calling 911

(e) Petty crimes. Officer Kinley reported that criminal mischief charges would be filed for petty crimes. This includes damage to yard decorations and ornaments. Please see that these crimes are reported and ask for a police report (incident number) to be made if you call 311 or 911.

(f) Solicitors. You should be very suspicious of persons soliciting in our neighborhood. Please call 311 and ask the 311 operator to make a police report, or call 911. Requesting that a police report be made makes APD aware of who is soliciting in our neighborhood. [Obviously, this does not apply for neighborhood children who are trying to sell things for schools or for clubs such as Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts.] However, if it is someone who should not be in our neighborhood, then the 311 or 911 numbers should be used.

(g) Graffiti. We were asked to keep our eyes open for persons who are placing graffiti around our neighborhood. Detective Kevin Bartles is currently the person at Austin Police Department in charge of the graffiti program. If you see graffiti, please report it to 911 and please try to take pictures of it for Detective Bartles (he prefers both a close up of all the graffiti and a full picture that clearly shows the building, wall, abutment, or object that has been vandalized).

(h) Noise Ordinance. The new noise standard is: "is the noise unreasonable?" This includes persons playing loud music in their vehicles. If you think noise is unreasonable, you're encouraged to call 311 and ask that a police report be made.

(i) Monthly Commander's Meeting. A monthly Commander's Meeting is held on the last Tuesday of every month @ 6:30 p.m. at the South Austin Police Substation (404 Ralph Ablanedo Drive which is near Slaughter Lane & South 1st Street). Information provided at this meeting include crime statistics for neighborhoods and current criminal activity and trends in affected neighborhoods. All residents are welcome to attend.

(j) Monthly Neighborhood Meetings. A monthly Neighborhood Watch meeting is held on the second Tuesday of each month @ 6:30 p.m. at the South Austin Police Substation (404 Ralph Ablanedo Drive which is near Slaughter Lane & South 1st Street). These meetings are held to show what neighborhoods are doing to improve security. All residents are welcome to attend.