The above post is from Joan Grassmann who lived at 541 South Oak Park Court at the time but no longer lives in South Oak Park Court. I am the Neighborhood Watch Captain that who she is referring to. Below is the letter that I sent to Joan Grassmann regarding this matter on June 26, 2011.
"Dear Joan,
Hello, I have been trying to get in touch with you for about two days now and have been unable to reach you by telephone or email. I came to your door twice today to talk to you in person, but you were unable to come to the door. I mention all this to explain why I am writing you a letter.
After the South Oak Park Court Neighborhood Watch meeting on Wednesday, June 22, 2011, one of our neighbors, Bob Baranowski, told me of a conversation that you had had with him wherein you stated that you felt that I was over active and too involved as a Block Watch captain, that I was spying on you or being too interested in your affairs, and that you were very upset by this. He also mentioned that you were upset about the fact that you were not told about a recent incident of "shots fired" in the Court. This, of course, concerned me, which is why I have been trying to reach you.
I do need to clarify that it is not the purpose of the Block Watch program to spy on people or be overly interested in their personal affairs but instead to keep an eye on the neighborhood to help keep it safe from outside criminal activity. I am sure there have been a few occasions over the years when I have looked over to your back yard or at the outside of your house if I heard a suspicious sound or something seemed out of place, but this is something I would do for any of my neighbors and, hopefully, they would do for me. When I have looked at your property or the exterior of your house, it was never my intention to alarm or upset you. I do apologize if it did. Although it is unavoidable for Janet and me to look in the direction of your house/property when we exit through the side door of our home, we can certainly try to not give the exterior of your yard or house any undue or extra attention in the future.
I can tell you that I am a very big advocate of "privacy" and am not interested in anyone on the Block Watch program invading anyone's privacy. I consider this a very important point.
Regarding the "shots fired" incident of approximately six weeks ago, I was the resident who called it into the Police Department at the time and followed up on it. I discovered that the incident occurred approximately 1/8 of a mile away on South 62th Street on the other side of Hawley Road. It was not mentioned in the recent Court Newsletter simply because it turned out to not have much to do with the Court. However anyone in the Court is free to contact me or the Police Department regarding any unusual incidents like this.
It is unfortunate that you felt that you could not discuss any of this with me directly. It is always a good idea for neighbors to communicate directly with other neighbors if there is a problem. And while I certainly do not feel that you have to be part of the Neighborhood Watch program if you don't want to, I definitely would encourage you to come and talk to Janet and me directly if you have any problems, concerns, or questions as a neighbor. That is probably the best way to do things."
