Estates/Misson Hills Homeowners Association

Security

May 11, 2000

As days get warmer and we all get out to enjoy the weather, we need to be more cognizant of security all around us. It isn?’t just our home and vehicle we need to lock up, we also need to protect our telephones and physical security. I hope that as you read the items below you start thinking as a ?“team?” and become more involved in OUR neighborhood. We all need to do the neighborly thing and watch out for each other.

The first item is from an article I received at work through email and if you have young children who are capable of answering the phone, take heed. Apparently, the writer received a call from an unknown person identifying himself as an AT&T technician running a test on the phone lines. He told the receiver that in order to complete the test he should touch nine, zero followed by the pound sign (90#) and then hang up. The receiver of this call was suspicious enough to refuse to follow the instructions and immediately called the phone company. He was informed at this time that by dialing 90# he would have given the caller access to his telephone line and enabled him to place long distance calls charging them to his phone bill. He was also told that this is a scam which has been originating from many of the local jails/prisons. This person went ahead and called GTE Security and verified that this is definitely possible. Bottom Line: Inform all who answer your phone about this and warn them not to do anything without first consulting with the adults in the family. Second Example. Recently there was a theft in our neighborhood. It may seem like ?“another one bit the dust,?” but this happened in BROAD DAYLIGHT! Nothing expensive was taken, it?’s the thought of having your car burglarized while you are at home! Just when we think we?’re safe, we let our guard down and they hit: ?“I?’m only going in for 5 minutes, no need to lock the car or close the garage door.?”

Third Example: Earlier this month as I was driving home from work, I noticed two young boys wrestling on a corner lot of our neighborhood. As I drove by them, I noticed one looked at my vehicle and reached his arms towards my vehicle as if asking for help. I made a quick U-turn and drove back to the place I had seen them. I noticed that one of the ?“boys?” turned out to be a young girl (15 years old). The boy approached my vehicle and assured me that he had not hurt her. He said they were boyfriend/girlfriend, that they had just had a disagreement and he was trying to keep her from leaving. I saw her walk away and get into a vehicle and wait for him. I hope that my return to the site kept this situation from getting worse.
The bottom line of the three items above is: If we work as a team we can make this a safe neighborhood we can all be proud of and know that we can count on each other to keep it that way.