Mayfair in Tampa Palms

NeighborHood Watch Meeting March 27

Mar 31, 2007

Last weeks Neighborhood Watch Meeting was very informative. Marianne Hunsberger from the Tampa police crime watch unit and woman from the wireless Amber alert's organization were our speakers. We also had George Wilkens from the Tampa Tribune observing our meeting. This is the subject matter that we talked about.

Fraud and mail scams:
Last year George and I have received a check that looked to be very legitimate from USA Mega Direct. After further inspection on the website rip-off report.com. I found that it was just another scam. I notified Lisa Timmer and Marianne in hopes of alerting others of the scam. They now use the check that was sent and the letter accompanying it to show others how easy it is to be scammed. The old adage still applies, " if it looks too good to be true ?…?…..it probably is". Marianne reminded us how important it is to contact the Police Department fraud unit so that they can investigate these scams.

Wireless Amber Alerts:
The woman from the Wireless Amber Alerts program showed us how easy this FREE service is easy to use. She showed us how the Wireless Amber Alert system works, how people can sign up to receive these alerts and how the Wireless Amber Alerts affect your phone. For more information on this please visit www.wirelessamberalerts.org or a participating carrier?’s website. I know it works because my phone alerted me when the last boy in the area was kidnapped. Please go and check it out.

Alarm Forms and Vacation Forms:
One thing I have been remiss in is reminding you (and myself ) is the alarm forms and vacation forms. Any home that is equipped with a working alarming system is required by law to be registered with the police dept. If you are going out of town the vacation form needs to be filled out and taken to the Dist. 2 police across from Bush Gardens. Marianne reminded us that it is important for the Police Department to have this information in case of an emergency if you are away. Contact me at adiller1@Verizon.net should you need these forms.

Securing your property:
Marianne says one of the biggest problems we have in our area is keeping our garage door closed and keeping shrubbery trimmed back around doors and windows. I know I have a problem keeping our garage door closed. Everyone in the room pointed it me when that was being discussed. The shrubbery in our subdivision is overgrown in areas. If you feel that your shrubs becoming a security problem for your home you should contact the board of directors so that they can contact Raymow on your behalf. Also if you would like to receive a free consultation from Tampa Police Department on security issues you may have on your property contact myself or Lisa Timmer and we will set it up for you.

We also had Lt. Courtoy giving us an update on the crime in our area. It seems as if our area quiet at the present of problems right now seem to be centered on the area of Amberly Drive and Bruce B. Downs. Most of it is theft from cars. The lieutenant wanted to stress that it's never a good idea to leave things in your car. Since several of our neighbors here in Mayfair have experienced car theft in the past they can concur.

I think it was one of our best meetings. I am just disappointed that more of our residents chose not to attend. Our next meeting will be in June. I would like to line up a speaker on sexual predators for this meeting. If you have ideas on how we can get more people involved with our Neighborhood Watch I'd like to hear from you.

Until next time?…?…?…?…?…?…?…?…. Stay Safe!!!!!!