Tips on what one person can do

Cindy Cross Brookshire
Published: April 21, 2008

In response to George Kraus’ letter “Questioning the people we choose to mourn” — I belong to Weems Neighborhood Watch. I walk daily past a memorial to Victor Moreno Orosco near the spot where he died. I also walk past Landgreen Street where Khawaja Ahmed was killed in February.

I agree that a climate of hate makes crime more likely. So do broken windows and abandoned cars. What can one person do? Here are tips from John Campbell, keynote speaker at the city’s first neighborhood conference last fall:

1. Report crime promptly. (The police found Orosco’s killer faster because a neighbor called about someone looking into cars.) 

2. Report nuisances and other non-criminal problems promptly. 

3. Take away the opportunity for crime.

4. Meet the youth who live on your block and greet them by name. 

5. Make a list of your neighbors’ names and phone numbers. 

6. List landlords in your area (get from the tax assessor’s office) and hold them accountable.

7. Turn your porch light on and keep it on until dawn. 

8. Walk around the block. 

9. Drive slowly on neighborhood streets.

10. Pick up litter near your home, even if you didn’t put it there. 

11. Stay where you are. 

12. Help your neighborhood association or watch group. 

Just because the names of the dead aren’t in the news doesn’t mean people don’t mourn them.

CINDY CROSS BROOKSHIRE

Manassas