I took my youngest son last Friday in the Neighborhood Night Walk with PG COPS Police Officer Melanie Sarita. A few residents took part in the walk – they included our two council members, Patrick and Chris and City’s Public Service Director Bob Ryan.
We met at the Duvall Field at around 7:00pm and headed to the eastern part of the neighborhood through 51st Avenue and Lackawanna Street. We then came back to Duvall Field again through Lackawanna and Rhode Island Avenue.
During the walk, we distributed public safety related pamphlets to the neighbors, placed them on the windshields of the vehicles parked on the streets. We talked to a few neighbors and told them about the recent spike in crime incidents, including the assault incident that happened on the previous Friday.
Interestingly enough, we found a few neighbors anxious about seeing a police officer in uniform placing ticket – size papers on their cars’ wind shields. “Hey, hey, what’s that on my car?” – a neighbor came running to us, thinking he got a ticket and trying to prove his innocence. Our response – “Never mind – this is simply a safety pamphlet” helped calm the neighbor.
Thank you Officer Sarita for organizing the event and thanks everyone who participated and made the ‘Walk’ a success. We’ll let you know when the next Walk is organized.