Every time I drive into the Neighborhood on Kings Highway and Hendon when I come by Furman, I see a sign from long ago that says "The City Wide Awake." It was a sign that said there was once a neighborhood watch program before I moved here.
Neighborhood watches have been tried and they have fizzled in the Bon Air Neighborhood. In more literary terms, they have ebbed and flowed. In today's post I am reviewing the recent history of the neighborhood watches and I am throwing a proverbial bone.
Back in 2009 there was a sexual assault that happened at the corner of Radiance and Herb that brought all kinds of attention from the media and it certainly had awakened the community. People were even more awake when there was a second report of what was believed an attempted attack by Seneca/Goldsmith and Rio Rita Avenue
There were a ton of people who crowded the Highgate Springs Neighborhood Associatoin meeting coming to hear the LMPD Chief at the time, Robert White The community room of the Bon Air Library was beyond capacity. The crowd had came because someone (I know now who it was) put flyers all over the streets in the Highgate Springs area and that appeared to get out to the media.
I remember a flustered-looking Raymond Fehr coming out to the larger crowd waiting out in the main area of the Bon Air Library announcing to the crowd that there has been some misinformation about what the meeting was about. The person who put the flyer out was not on the Highgate Springs board and Robert White was not on their meeting agenda that night.
There was a temporary, reactionary group called the "Ticked-Off Moms" who had marches down Rio Rita for a time. They got a few days of media coverage and then they went away.
The LMPD Sixth District did start to organize a neighborhood block watch. A guy named John Paul agreed to take the helm. At the risk of sounding pretentious, I had just graduated with my last graduate degree, and I was hoping to get that next level job teaching at an institution of higher learning and I was planning on moving, so I said no, I could not take leadership.
The concerns fizzled away as one of the alleged perps was in jail for something else, and it was never clear what happened to him, but I was aware that LMPD had the place staked out for awhile.
Likewise, the block watch was started but it was like a balloon with several pin-holes in it; it never got off the ground and it died as soon as it started. People just stopped being interested as the concern went away.
The Next Door Social Media Platform has served some neighborhood watch functions, and can be useful, if you take the time to read it, and if you are on it. I would say that it is not an easily acquired app, because someone in your neighborhood has to vouch for you that you live in the particular neighborhood (for example Furman to Rio Rita).
My criticism of the way Nextdoor is setup as it pertains to Bon Air is that it is too segmented: it will not let you know what happens in other parts of the neighborhood. If you life along Radiance, you are not going to know what is happening along Terrier, or Wyckford. Conversely, if you live on Fureen, you are not going to know what is happening on Aries or Somber, Dell Brooke, or even Boaires. (For the record, they are streets in the neighborhood/I was a geography nut for a few years about this stuff) It has some use, but it is limited.
I think the Bon Air Neighborhood Association can be a launching platform for Neighborhood Watches again if there is interest. We can facilitate the Louisville Metro Police Department to come in and help organize the watches, and we could help form a standing committee or delegate leadership to a board member. The question is whether or not there is interest.
BANA serves the neighborhood, and a good neighborhood association should reflect what the people of the neighborhood are concerned about. If this is something you are interested in, and taking leadership in within the Bon Air Neighborhood, I hope that you will join BANA and come to the next meeting; it is scheduled to be March 11, 2019 at 6:30 pm in the community room of the Bon Air Library.
Neighborhood watches have been tried and they have fizzled in the Bon Air Neighborhood. In more literary terms, they have ebbed and flowed. In today's post I am reviewing the recent history of the neighborhood watches and I am throwing a proverbial bone.
The Attempt of 2009
Back in 2009 there was a sexual assault that happened at the corner of Radiance and Herb that brought all kinds of attention from the media and it certainly had awakened the community. People were even more awake when there was a second report of what was believed an attempted attack by Seneca/Goldsmith and Rio Rita Avenue
There were a ton of people who crowded the Highgate Springs Neighborhood Associatoin meeting coming to hear the LMPD Chief at the time, Robert White The community room of the Bon Air Library was beyond capacity. The crowd had came because someone (I know now who it was) put flyers all over the streets in the Highgate Springs area and that appeared to get out to the media.
I remember a flustered-looking Raymond Fehr coming out to the larger crowd waiting out in the main area of the Bon Air Library announcing to the crowd that there has been some misinformation about what the meeting was about. The person who put the flyer out was not on the Highgate Springs board and Robert White was not on their meeting agenda that night.
There was a temporary, reactionary group called the "Ticked-Off Moms" who had marches down Rio Rita for a time. They got a few days of media coverage and then they went away.
The LMPD Sixth District did start to organize a neighborhood block watch. A guy named John Paul agreed to take the helm. At the risk of sounding pretentious, I had just graduated with my last graduate degree, and I was hoping to get that next level job teaching at an institution of higher learning and I was planning on moving, so I said no, I could not take leadership.
The concerns fizzled away as one of the alleged perps was in jail for something else, and it was never clear what happened to him, but I was aware that LMPD had the place staked out for awhile.
Likewise, the block watch was started but it was like a balloon with several pin-holes in it; it never got off the ground and it died as soon as it started. People just stopped being interested as the concern went away.
Next Door
The Next Door Social Media Platform has served some neighborhood watch functions, and can be useful, if you take the time to read it, and if you are on it. I would say that it is not an easily acquired app, because someone in your neighborhood has to vouch for you that you live in the particular neighborhood (for example Furman to Rio Rita).
My criticism of the way Nextdoor is setup as it pertains to Bon Air is that it is too segmented: it will not let you know what happens in other parts of the neighborhood. If you life along Radiance, you are not going to know what is happening along Terrier, or Wyckford. Conversely, if you live on Fureen, you are not going to know what is happening on Aries or Somber, Dell Brooke, or even Boaires. (For the record, they are streets in the neighborhood/I was a geography nut for a few years about this stuff) It has some use, but it is limited.
Is there interest in them again?
I think the Bon Air Neighborhood Association can be a launching platform for Neighborhood Watches again if there is interest. We can facilitate the Louisville Metro Police Department to come in and help organize the watches, and we could help form a standing committee or delegate leadership to a board member. The question is whether or not there is interest.
BANA serves the neighborhood, and a good neighborhood association should reflect what the people of the neighborhood are concerned about. If this is something you are interested in, and taking leadership in within the Bon Air Neighborhood, I hope that you will join BANA and come to the next meeting; it is scheduled to be March 11, 2019 at 6:30 pm in the community room of the Bon Air Library.
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