they posed as electric company workers and took nearly $10,000.

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1 North Division officers responded to several near abductions of children. FWPD officers quickly organized neighborhood meetings in order to address questions from concerned parents and community members. The entire team of Beach Street NPO s have been focusing on areas in and around school grounds and will continue to do so until the end of this school year. There are several steps parents can do to lessen or prevent the chances of your child from being abducted. TALK ~ Talk to your child about what an abduction is. Explain to your child that there are bad people who want to do bad things to children. Let your child know that for the most part people are good and always available to help. WALK ~ Instead of allowing children to walk by themselves, parents should consider either walking or arrange to have another parent transport children to playgrounds, swimming pools, etc. ALERT ~ Ask children to be alert when outside, if they hear screams or see something unusual to always tell an adult immediately. Instruct older children to always keep their younger siblings within hearing and seeing distance and to never leave the yard without permission. REPORT ~ Adults and children should report any suspicious vehicles seen parked for long periods of time around locations that tend to attract children such as playgrounds, swimming pools, school areas, day care centers, etc. PREPARE ~ Have recent photos along with children's information such as height, weight, color of hair, etc. handy. Contact your Crime Prevention Specialist to arrange a KIDS ID for your child they posed as electric company workers and took nearly $10,000. Two men posing as electric company employees arrived at the residence of an 89 year old woman and explained the electric company had received a sensor indicating an electrical shortage that required immediate attention to her home s electrical wiring. Armed with the necessary tools and other visuals that would convince unsuspecting victims of their scheme, the two men were allowed access into the victim s home. The two disappeared into the victim s attic and after several minutes passed, armed with frayed wire in hand, explained to the victim that squirrels had chewed through the electrical wiring and needed repair. After 45 minutes the two men left the victim s home with a check written in the amount of $9, 818 having done nothing to the victim s home electrical wiring. Con-artist conjure just about any type of scheme if money can be gained. When approached by any individual claiming to be with a utility company, the homeowner should always first ask for credentials and contact the company in order to confirm having sent out company repairmen. Contact the police department immediately if company denies having sent any representative to your residence. In any situation such as the one described above, homeowners do well to always confirm company visits up front.

2 (817) 469-TIPS Anyone observing suspicious activity are reminded to report what they see to (817) 469- TIPS. According to Rachel Gilbert, program director for Safe City, citizens are encouraged to call 469-TIPS with any details of any crime or fugitive. Callers should have ideally the address, name, physical description, vehicle information and any other detail pertaining to the crime. If reporting any drug activity, LP # s, description of vehicles along with days and times of activity are considered necessary. Calls are not recorded, there is no caller ID and the caller can remain anonymous if preferred. Monetary awards MAY BE available when providing any leads that close a case, lead to an arrest, or result in the seizure of drugs or recovery of stolen property. Recently a homeowner discovered someone had crept into his front yard and removed a rather expensive juniper tree from their front yard. ***************************************************** After reporting the theft to the police department, the homeowner is usually left with having to decide whether to replace the tree with an equally expensive tree or leaving it out of their landscape all together. If the homeowner decides to replace the tree with an exact type please remember the following; Save your receipt of purchase; this will show positive proof of the amount of money spent and will provide officer with amount of theft when making the report. Take pictures of your landscape including the specimen in question. Check with your homeowners policy to see if coverage can be extended to cover plants exceeding a specific amount. Each insurance company has their own guidelines and depends on any addendums to your current homeowner s policy. Check with your nursery where purchased. With police report in hand it wouldn t hurt to see if nursery can either replace or provide a discount for new purchase. Consider installing cameras outside the perimeter of your residence aimed at your most valuable trees/plants in your landscape area.

3 Recently I was contacted by a senior citizen who questioned the validity of a notice received in the mail regarding a bankruptcy court out of state. She wanted to make sure the notice was not part of a scam and just wanted to make sure. After reviewing the document and making several phone calls to the Senior Manager of Customer Advocacy of that particular company it was confirmed the documents were legal and had to do with a Chapter 11 restructuring. Had this been a scam and had this senior citizen not reached out for help, this situation could have had a different ending. Senior citizens are the main targets of con-artist due to their trusting of others. Senior citizens are what con-artist focus on when seeking a population that can be quickly deceived and less likely to cause trouble. Senior citizens who fall victim to scams usually are often too embarrassed to report any wrongdoing for fear of being seen as incapable of making decisions. Many of our senior citizens in our community fall victim to these con-artist each year and many lose whatever savings they have set aside for their future. If you have an elderly family member or elderly friend take the time to speak to them on never giving out any personal information such as their social security numbers, bank account numbers or sending of monies without first consulting with a close acquaintance or family member. AND REMEMBER TO JUST LISTEN.. LISTEN.. LISTEN.. LISTEN. LISTEN HELP POLICE BY REPORTING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY AUTO ETCHING EVENTS AND LOCATIONS Jun 11, :00 AM, Eugene McCray Community Ctr Wilbarger Street Jun 28, :00 AM, Target E. Freeway FOR MORE INFORMATION ON AUTO ETCHING EVENTS CONTACT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CRIME PREVENTION SPECIALIST. EAST DIVISION (817) WEST DIVISION (817) CENTRAL DIVISION (817) NORTH DIVISION (682) SOUTH DIVISION (817) Report all suspicious activities immediately to the Fort Worth Police Department 2 (817) For emergencies call DO NOT CALL CRIME PREVENTION OFFICE; WE ARE NOT EQUIPPED TO DISPATCH OFFICERS. DOES YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD OR APARTMENT UNIT HAVE ANY CRIME WATCH SIGNS INSTALLED? CONTACT YOUR CRIME PREVENTION SPECIALIST IF YOU ARE INSTERESTED IN HAVING CRIME WATCH SIGNS IN- STALLED IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

4 COP Members reported over 1700 hrs of patrol for the month of April. If you are interested in becoming a COP (Citizen on Patrol) contact COP Coordinator Brenda Fitts for more information or contact your local NPO. Ms. Fitts can be reached at (817) You ve missed one opportunity, don t miss another opportunity to protect your family and your neighborhood. FWPD Crime Prevention Specialists are hosting a training academy on crime prevention. Come learn how to reduce opportunities for crime to occur around your home, in your neighborhood, and throughout Fort Worth. When: Mondays, 9, 16, 23, and 30, :30 pm to 9:30 pm Where: FWPD Training Academy 1000 Calvert St. Some of the topics to be discussed ~ Crime Watch Home Security Personal Safety Auto Theft Prevention Homeland Security Identity Theft Crime Free Multi Housing For more information either plan on joining us at 6:30pm at the Fort Worth Police Academy located at 1000 Calvert (off Henderson) If you have any questions contact Billy (817) or john.rudd@fortworthtexas.gov Crime Prevention Programs City Resources

5 CONGRATULATIONS!! The Fort Worth Police Officers Award Foundation recognized the following at a dinner on May 27th. Officer Andy Morquecho Central Northwest Command Officer Marty Stone Southeast Command Detective William Paine Specialized Unit Sergeant Thomas Busker Supervisor of the Year Captain Michael Baldwin Commander of the Year Officer John Bell Officer of the Year 2013, Amon G Carter Award Watering twice a week is now permanent for residents living in Fort Worth. That is hard to hear if you enjoy working in your yard or garden as I do in mine. However, there is much you and I can do to enjoy a beautiful lawn and still adhere to the city s watering restrictions. One change I made is to replace as many of my water loving plants and incorporate my landscape with native and/or drought resistance plants. Another is to take advantage of any rain water by collecting as much of it as possible. Rain barrels collect rainwater that would otherwise go to waste. Usage of saving rainwater can help conserve water and lower your monthly water bills. That, plus the fact that we are to adhere to the city s water restrictions is enough reason to purchase several rain barrels from our place of preference. Whether you purchase your rain barrel on-line or at a local home improvement store doesn t matter...what matters is that we start soon. Visit for information to learn more about using native and adapted plants to conserve water. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the city ordinance Save Money Save Water

6 So the kids are out for the summer.what do you do?? Here are some hints to help parents survive summer :) Sign kids up for summer camp ~ check with schools, churches, or YMCA s to see what programs are available for the summer. These tend to fill up quickly so start checking soon. Get organized with other parents ~ create a summer program all your own with children in your neighborhood. Organize swim meets, library trips, park visits, etc. Send them off to Grandparents :) ~ this is a win-win situation. Children get to bond with the grandparents and parents know their children will be safe. Take children to work ~ Make arrangements with supervisors to have children (age appropriate ) to visit their parents office/place of employment. Take on a summer job ~ Have older children certified to watch other children from the neighborhood ; or ask Jr to mow neighborhood lawns, walk neighbors dogs. Children earn extra money and learn a sense of responsibility. Cut or reschedule work hours ~ check with your employer to reschedule your work hours during summer months. Have children organize outdoor events ~ Don t allow children to remain indoors with electronic devices all day. Depending on how hot the day is encourage children to ride bikes, take walks (with adult supervision) in the morning and in the afternoon set up lemonade stands to see how much can be earned and then think of ways of spending money earned benefitting the group. Rosalinda P Mendoza Crime Prevention Specialist North Division (682)