Good Afternoon,
I'm sorry to report that last night's meeting did not go off as planned. I sat until 6:45 pm and then finally decided to lock up the building and head home.
The meetings were not only placed on the community calendar on this site, but they were also published in the Centerton Newsletter that went out to each and every resident here in Centerton.
Our site counter reads that to date, for the month of Februar, we have had 293 visits to the entire site. Then it's broken down into sections that are read. For January, there were almost 3000 visits to this site.
So I guess what has my eyebrow going up in question is, for so many people who have visited the site, for those who have called the Centerton PD asking for information and for us making sure that the meetings were put out in the town's newsletter.... where is everyone?
Community safety is not just the job of the police. A big part of the police being successful in keeping our town safe is by having residents who actually care enough to step up to the plate with the feeling of - This is our town too and we are not going to let the gangs move in; we will not let our homes be robbed; we will not let our children be endangered.
I realize that three years ago when the neighborhood watch was in existence, that it only lasted a matter of months and the majority of the work was done by the police to make that happen... not the residents of this town. Also, there apparently were numerous personal political agendas flying and instead of having town unity; everyone had moved to his or her own corners.
For the record, my husband and I took on this responsibility because nothing had been done in three years time. Neither of us have any political issues. The only issue we have is keeping our neighborhood and town a safe and wonderful place to live, shop and prosper.
We are not paid to do this. We have not received any donations nor have there been any political approaches. We do this because we care enough about our family and all of your families to take time out of our evenings to make it so that we can come together and have a meeting of residents. Why? So that we can discuss any issues in our prospective neighborhoods, get to know our neighbors and have that united front.
Growing up, my community was not like the town of Centerton. I grew up across the bay from New York City and the police blotters in the would fill 3 to 5 pages of the newspapers. Being in a bigger metropolis, that is expected. However, the neighborhood that I lived in was united and we did not have the burgularies, the domestic violence, teens running rampant at all hours of the night. Our children were safe to play on our street and we all watched out for each other.
Centerton is a cozy bedroom community where many families are moving to with smaller children, or just starting their families off. We also have our share of the elderly who have been here for years and years and know the quaint, safe atmosphere this town has always offered. It's just in these last 6 - 12 months are we starting to see evidence of tagging (spray painted grafitti) by kids who are trying to be something they're not and we're also aware of a few gang members living in this area now.
Why are the gangs moving this way? Because other towns are taking action to push them out of their towns - i.e. - Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale. These groups are looking for fresh soil to "claim" as their territory.
Why are kids running around at all hours? Because parents are not enforcing the curfews, or their parents perhaps are working more than one job to give them good homes, etc. and there is not proper supervision. The reasons could be endless.
However, two people cannot do this alone and the job of the police is harder when there is no community support. Everyone expects the police to come running when there is a problem, but many can be averted by taking a stand for your own home, street and neighborhood, and reporting it in when something seems off or is not supposed to be happening. That is the primary purpose... to be eyes and ears for the police to enable them to better protect you!
I encourage everyone to come out for the March meeting which is posted on the community calendar and also in the Centerton Newsletter that came in the mail about 2 weeks ago.
We truly look forward to seeing you there!
Leslie Baker
