I just attended my first meeting of the Bomber Heights crime watch group this last Monday 8-15-05 and was encouraged by some of the things I heard discussed. I have personally lived in this area now for about 13 years and have seen the crime rate here rapidly escalate within just the past few years to the point of near absurdity. Either the people in this neighborhood are going to band together and eliminate this or we are all going to be eventually faced with an unliveable neighborhood where car thefts, burglaries, illegal drugs, violence and assorted other problems will run rampant. I have personally been the victim of 2 car thefts, 2 burglaries of a company vehicle, an attempted assault by group of intoxicated delinquents, attempted car break-ins and several other more minor offenses just within the past few years and I am absolutely fed up with it. Although I am encouraged with some of the ideas that I heard discussed, the idea of putting up crime watch signs throughout the neighborhood, for instance, to me is pretty much a waste of time. Not that I have all the answers or anything or am trying to stop others from doing what they think is right, it's just that from what I have seen around here in this area lately, the type of individuals that seem to be committing the majority of offenses around here are not going to be the slightest bit deterred from committing more crimes by the sight of a crime watch sign. Much to the contrary, I think that these signs might be used as nothing more than further property to be defaced by offensive gang grafitti. I would favor the allocation of community resources to be used in a more perhaps ''aggressive'' fashion. Nevertheless, I plan on attending regular meetings and hearing what others have to say as well as encouraging more of my neighbors to attend and to get more active in your program. Thanks again, Gregg Orange