Police column: Honoring those who stop crime

By SHARON Y. RICHARDSON Prince William County Police Department
Published: November 22, 2008

The police department's mission statement emphasizes crime prevention in cooperation with the public, and once a year the Prince William Crime Prevention Council, in conjunction with police, holds an awards ceremony to honor those individuals and groups that participate in Neighborhood Watch and other crime prevention programs.

Here is a list of this year's award winners:

• The Cindy Laine Award: The Dun Mar Neighborhood Watch, the Inverness Village Neighborhood Watch and the Yorkshire Neighborhood Watch each won the award this year for having representation at all general membership meetings over the past calendar year.

• The Meritorious Service Award: Gregory W. Nelson, a Maintenance Mechanic II with the Prince William County Department of Public Works, Division of Buildings and Grounds, won this award for his actions upon witnessing a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of Wellington Road and Prince William Parkway on the morning of June 6.

He was on duty, driving a county vehicle, when he saw a pickup truck drive into the back of a vehicle stopped at the traffic light, which began a chain reaction. Nelson got out of his vehicle to check on the drivers. While doing so, he noticed that the driver of the pickup truck began to assault the female driver of the car that he struck. The woman's young children were in her car at the time.

Nelson told the man to get away from the woman, and placed himself between the two to stop the assault until police arrived. Nelson placed his personal safety at risk by intervening.

• The Citizenship Award: Betsy Nugent won this award for actively promoting crime prevention in the community. Nugent and her husband have coordinated the Country Scene Neighborhood Watch in the Manassas area. She also actively helps the Crime Prevention Council, volunteering her time to help man tables for displays at various activities throughout the county, including the 2008 and 2007 National Night Out events.

• The Executive Award: NOVEC received the award because of its active participation in Fleet Watch and the specific actions of one of the company's employees.

On Sept. 16, at approximately 10:30 a.m., police dispatchers informed patrol officers that a NOVEC employee saw four men loading a large-screen TV into an automobile in Dale City. The alert employee thought it odd that two of the four men then left on foot while two drove off, so he got the car's tag number and called police, leading arrests in several burglaries.

• The Crime Prevention Youth Award: Brothers Sam and Kent Jarrell won the award this year for their determination to help their family recover a vehicle that was stolen. Whenever the family drove around, the boys watched diligently for their stolen vehicle. One day, while their mother was going to Potomac Mills mall, Sam spotted their stolen vehicle and the trip to the mall quickly turned into an impromptu undercover operation. Police arrived and arrested three people believed involved in the car theft.

In addition, the Crime Prevention Council honors those Neighborhood Watch groups—one in eastern Prince William County and one in western Prince William—that displayed the highest level of activity in the promotion of crime prevention and that most actively worked toward improvement and maintenance of a new or existing Watch.

The Outstanding Neighborhood Watch Award was presented to the Endsley Turn Neighborhood Watch in Dale City, and the Copeland Neighborhood Watch in the Manassas area.

The Most Improved Neighborhood Watch Award was presented to the Princeton Woods Neighborhood Watch in Woodbridge, and the Greenhill Crossing Neighborhood Watch in Gainesville.

For more information on the Crime Prevention Council, please call the police department's Crime Prevention Unit at 703-792-7270, or e-mail the unit at .

Send questions or comments to PWCPRD-PIO, 8900 Freedom Center Blvd., Manassas, VA 20192 or e-mail .