A concerned friend forwarded us an email about the situation.
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Dear Gladys,
We thought you all might want to see the picture of the guy who broke into our back yard. He seems to like to prowl the Hoyt/Colby alley way - although I am pretty sure that he is not limited to that area. He lives south on Hoyt and steals for drug money. Nice.
Have a good week,
Matilda
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Dear North End Neighbors,
I am forwarding an email from another Block Watch Captain in the north end of Everett (1900 block of Rucker), along with a clear picture of her prowler. Matilda explains that the pictured suspect stole from their home, but was caught when fingerprints found on her gate matched his. He then returned her property after being contacted by police.
Gladys
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Ahaa! So someone "broke into" a back yard and stole something. The police were on the case, took fingerprints from the gate, and now we know the perp lives 8 blocks south of us - and thanks to the crimewatchers we have the guys name, address and his picture.
I mentioned the situation to B and we were wondering what we should do with this information.
I was thinking, I could collect these stories and start a local newsletter called "Pitchforks and Torches" or "NW Neighbor Hood Watch"?
Knowing a petty thief lives within an 8 block radius of us, makes me wonder what other nefarious ne'er-do-wells might be living within this area.
If I had a complete criminal history of every person in this area I'm afraid it might be a bit shocking.
Before we had a neighbor hood watch I slept reasonably well - believing that whoever stole that pink stingray bicycle out of the backyard 15 years ago has moved on or been rehabilitated. Yes it's true that Lewis the neighborhood cat and his buddies knock over the birdbath and claw on that wicker chair on the porch - but other than that things have been pretty quiet in the Crossen backyard.
It's funny and sad to me that people can get so involved in the potential for wrongdoing and bad things happening around, or maybe to, them. I'm not suggesting a person shouldn't take appropriate precautions to ensure their personal safety - just a little perspective please.
Maybe we should have a neighborhood garage sale and give that guy the proceeds?
Maybe we should think how lucky we are to have material things, to worry about, considering that globally - 1 person in 5 lives on less than a dollar a day?
Maybe we should try stealing stuff out of each other's backyards as a test of the backyard's security, or just for fun. It would be like the good old days when we went garden raiding. For more excitement we could try tagging each other with paint guns.
Anything besides worrying and hand wringing would be fine with me.
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Postscript - Saturday October 14th 2:31 am
I'm on my watch. Nothing to report at this quiet hour. I am a good early morning watchperson, since I'm often up prowling around, reading or typing anyway.
I'm not sure that we need a special neighborhood watch, since I believe we should all look out for each other regardless of whether we belong to a group or not.
Taking it a step further - We belong to the group of human creatures and owe our fellow humans respect, concern and compassion; but we should look out for all sentient beings...cats, dogs, rats, bumblebees, raccoons, butterflies, people, etc. etc. etc.
If we see a situation where a neighbor needs a hand we should all be good Samaritans as described in the parable from the Gospel of Luke.
When I think about the neighborhood watch concept of protecting the tribe and punishing the trespassers, the enemy, I can't help but think that Jesus has a different message, telling us we shouldn't just love our neighbors (those like us) but all people, even the poor blighter 8 blocks south who's a petty criminal stealing things to support a drug habit.
I'm on my watch. Nothing to report at this quiet hour. I am a good early morning watchperson, since I'm often up prowling around, reading or typing anyway.
I'm not sure that we need a special neighborhood watch, since I believe we should all look out for each other regardless of whether we belong to a group or not.
Taking it a step further - We belong to the group of human creatures and owe our fellow humans respect, concern and compassion; but we should look out for all sentient beings...cats, dogs, rats, bumblebees, raccoons, butterflies, people, etc. etc. etc.
If we see a situation where a neighbor needs a hand we should all be good Samaritans as described in the parable from the Gospel of Luke.
When I think about the neighborhood watch concept of protecting the tribe and punishing the trespassers, the enemy, I can't help but think that Jesus has a different message, telling us we shouldn't just love our neighbors (those like us) but all people, even the poor blighter 8 blocks south who's a petty criminal stealing things to support a drug habit.
