“TOPs”  -  TOWNWATCH on PatroL

Welcome to “TOPs”, Pennsbury Townwatch’s member newsletter.  Townwatch can be reached at 610-388-0785.

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Editor’s Comments

Many of our Pennsbury township residents have never seen an issue of TOPs before. A separate organization from the Township Government, we use this publication to advise our Townwatch members on matters of safety and security and to update them on Townwatch activities.

If you are not a member and are interested in supporting this important activity, we encourage you to consider joining.                                  (application on Page 4).

                  Ron Majors

            Vice-President/Publicity Chair

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President’s  Corner 

“BURGLARIES IN PENNSBURY?”

Yes! The past several months have seen a half a dozen scattered burglaries in our Township—all with a degree of pattern.

To learn more about the unusual number of these events, several members of the Pennsbury Townwatch Board of Directors (Kathy Howley, Joe Evans, and the writer) met with Lt. Sheldon Sneed, Commander of the Avondale Barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police. It was an interview I wish every Pennsbury resident could have heard; wide-ranging, candid, at times surprising, and above all, helpful!

            So Townwatch is devoting a large portion of this issue of this TOPs membership newsletter to coverage of that discussion. At the same time, we’re sending this issue to each residence in the Township (rather than its normal “member-only” mailing).

            I hope that you will find the Lieutenant’s comments as useful as we did, and I particularly hope you will adopt these suggestions that fit your situation.

Jim Sears, President, Pennsbury Townwatch

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Synopsis of remarks by                       Lt. Sneed, June 13, 2006

Burglary in Southern Chester County

            Occurrence of this crime is up throughout the Southern portion of the County—Pennsbury is not an exception (and has been affected less than several communities to our West).

Two different search patterns have been employed by the burglars. In one, the house is ransacked with possessions strewn about in an apparent search for quick sale, high street value items. In the other pattern, the search is more professional and less damaging, focusing on high valueolume  items such as jewelry, easily moved electronics, etc. Pennsbury’s experience deals primarily with the second type of search.

Method of Operation

            These have been daytime burglaries, very quickly carried out, but costly to victims. So far, the burglars have been concentrating south of U.S. Route 1 in the eastern part of Pennsbury Township.

     It appears that these events are preceded by two steps:

1.       A drive-by selection of a house that appears to    be unoccupied.

2.    A knock on the door of the selected home by a      young white, non-hispanic male, who asks for directions, if the resident comes to the door. It the knock isn’t answered, the house is presumed empty.

Status of the Investigation

       At the time we spoke with the Lieutenant, the State Police had no leads and no apparent suspects. They are working the Township quite heavily using both unmarked cruisers as well as undercover teams.

Prevention and Assistance

          This is where each of us comes in, both to avoid being a victim and perhaps providing assistance to the police.

  Observe:

Suspicious vehicle or person? Unusual vehicle in a driveway? A knock on the door as outlined above?

Action: Call the Police—(610) 268-2022

As Lt. Sneed says “Sure we’re busy, but don’t think you’re bothering us—that’s out job!” Tell them:

1.       Who you are

2.       Where you are

3.       What you observed

If at all possible, note a license number of any unusual vehicle.

Lock it:

Car: Begin by always keeping your car locked when it is in the driveway. Remove anything valuable (especially at night). Last year, there were several thefts from unlocked cars in the south end of the township (Editor’s Note: on August 1, 2006, burglars again hit two unlocked cars on Raintree Road—one car was ransacked and items were taken; the second car was stolen and recovered later in Wilmington).

House: Keep windows and screens locked at all times (they’re seldom opened anyway, and make a good entrance point for burglars). Lock your doors—always when you are going away but also when working outside and out of sight of your front door. In June, a resident of a neighboring community has a handgun stolen in his unlocked house while he was gardening in the back yard.

Alarm It:

If you have an alarm system, use it—even for short time

aAway. Repetitive use will minimize your chance of mis-setting the alarm (causing a false alarm) when you do operate it.                                                                     

If you don’t have an alarm system, you may want to look into buying one. Even before police can respond, the audible alarm feature will often frighten off an intruder.

Make it Appear Occupied:

·         Leave a locked vehicle in the driveway—this alone will cause most would-be burglar to look for another house

·         Use light and sound. Lights on a timer or not suggests occupancy. When coupled with a radio in a room that cannot be seen from the outside, they strengthen the suggestion of occupancy. Use of timers for both items in the best bet.

Keep Neighbors Posted:

Let them know your normal occupancy pattern. Tell them about other short-term absences or unusual visits you may receive when you are normally away (deliveries, service calls, etc.). Ask them to call the police if your alarm sounds when you are away. Above all, ask how you can help them when they are away (“neighbor helping neighbor”).

Summary

Actions that you take don’t insure that you will not be the victim of a burglary, but the adoption of any of the above tips can significantly reduce your chances.

Ø      Be observant/use the police

Ø      Lock it

Ø      Alarm it

Ø      Make it look occupied

Ø      Be a good neighbor

New patrollers for 2006

We are happy to announce the names of new patrollers who have volunteered their time to help keep our Township safe and secure.

·       Rezra Amadi

·       Eric Barsamian

·       Chuck Ditzel

·       Chuck and Colleen Hanna

·       Michelle and Phil Mathias

·       Dee Parker

·       Len and Kathy Sherman

Above all the main activity of Townwatch is our vehicular patrolling. Since Pennsbury Twp. hHas 60 miles of roads, we are in constant need of additional patrollers. Please help!

where is your cell phone charger?

            If you keep your charger in your bedroom and make a habit of keeping your cell phone there at night, whether it is being charged or not, you can quickly make contact with others during an emergency—even if you have to leave the house! This can gain you valuable time during a fire or other emergency instead of running to a neighbor to call 911.

            Three other things should always be in a known place in the bedroom:

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“Honey, where is the old telephone?

This summer has given many of us in Pennsbury more than a few opportunities to ask that question—when our electric power is out, and our portable phones don’t work. All we want at that time is to call PECO (1-800-841-4141) to report the power outage. But we can’t!

If you still have your old fashion “hard wired” telephone, great! It doesn’t even have to be plugged into the phone jack so long as you know where it is and hwerewhere the phone jack you’re going to use is located.

If, on the other hand, you threw the last one of these away, you may want to see what $10 or $15 will do for you at the local Radio Shack. Keep in touch!!

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9-1-1 Address -- DO YOU KNOW YOURS?

IS IT VISIBLE FROM THE STREET?

Back to School

                                                                                                                                            It's that time of year again. The vacations are over and the kids are gearing up for school. Along with their return to school is the transportation of our kids to school. Whether the kids get to school by bus, private vehicle, or under their own power, we want to continue our successful traffic history of safety. A quick review of traffic laws, along with a few safety tips, may be just the ticket to help us avoid tragedy.

The school bus laws in this Commonwealth are explained to us when we apply for our driver's license, but do we think about them often enough? A school bus displaying flashing red lights can be passed in only one instance. That is when you are approaching in the opposite direction on a physically divided highway. If you are traveling in the same direction as the bus, you may never pass a bus when its red lights are flashing. A four-lane roadway does NOT, in itself, constitute a divided highway. There must be a physical barrier between lanes. For a school bus on U.S. Highway 1, which is four lanes with barriers through most of the Township, requires an approaching vehicle to stop when no physical barrier exists. Motorists should be prepared to stop when amber (yellow) lights on the bus are activated. And remember to stop ten feet to the front and ten feet to the rear of the bus.

Children being discharged from private vehicles on a major road should always be discharged on the right hand side of the car. Last year a child was struck and injured by an oncoming vehicle as he passed in front of his parent's car to cross the street.

"Walkers" safety depends on motorists obeying both the 15 mph school speed limit and the crossing guards. Parents of walkers should familiarize their children with crossing locations.

Tragedy happens in many forms. It is something that can happen in a split second. Don't be in such a hurry that you forget good sound safety practices. Let's watch our kids grow day by day.

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