When Tampa Police Dept. (TPD) Chief Lee Bercaw and District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera co-hosted the New Tampa Public Safety Town Hall meeting on July 1, Chief Bercaw told those in attendance that if they want to be an even greater asset to their local law enforcement officials, they should join their communityโs Neighborhood Watch program โ or start a new one if their neighborhood didnโt already have one.ย
Ashington Estates at Tampa Palms resident Kevin Kelly took that advice to heart, as he immediately began to organize a new Neighborhood Watch group for his subdivision of about 100 homes. On July 5 โ the Friday afternoon of the 4th of July holiday weekend and less than two weeks following the TPD Town Hall โ there were ten TPD officers, Viera and several of Kellyโs fellow residents meeting inside the gates of Ashington Estates, only a few weeks after the series of violent crimes that touched New Tampa.
And, although the TPD officers outnumbered the number of Ashington residents who stopped by the organizational meeting while yours truly and photographer Charmaine George were on hand, Kelly said he was encouraged by the turnout and support that day.
โWe had about 14-15 residents in attendance overall, including drive-bys,โ Kelly said after the meeting. โWe currently have 21 in our neighborhood watch group and two of those signed up for our Facebook group since the roll call.โย
As his communityโs new Neighborhood Watch coordinator, Kelly also said he was, โvery pleased with our police turnout. It shows their interest in Neighborhood Watch groups and the synergy those groups bring to the Police Department. I honestly only expected about 10 neighbors for this first roll call, so we surpassed that by a little.โ
Those who did attend basically heard the TPD officers recap what happened during New Tampaโs week of three violent events that left four people dead and two others injured, with only one arrest having been made. The officers explained that the incident that occurred on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. on June 17 was being investigated by the Hillsborough County Sheriffโs Office (HCSO), but that TPD always works closely with HCSO and was being updated on that case.
Meanwhile, the Ashington Estates neighbors talked about things like people from other neighborhoods fishing in their pond, as there had never been any actual crime reported in their community, but TPD Major Brett Owen explained that hosting regular Neighborhood Watch meetings and occasional events will help keep the police โ and the community โ informed about anything that does happen inside those gates.
As to how Kelly hopes to increase participation in the program, he said, โIโm trying to get some work parties together for small jobs in the neighborhoodโs common areas (trimming, painting, etc.), which Iโve already suggested to our Homeowners Associationโs president.โ
Kelly also said that he hopes to see, โmore social media interaction within our group. Itโs been a bit slow up to this point, so regular interactions should generate interest. Our information mechanisms of choice currently are Facebook and WhatsApp.โ
Kelly also said that the Neighborhood Watchโs next meeting has not yet been planned, but that there were now โtentative plansโ to do something for National Night Out (Tuesday, August 6), but that nothing specific had yet been planned at our press time.ย