(MT) – Violated by break-ins at their homes in November, a Welches
neighborhood has responded.

Elk Park Road and Birdie Lane had four houses broken into and burglarized
prompting a turnout of 35 area residents to form a neighborhood watch
program.

Sara McClurg, crime prevention officer for the Clackamas County Sheriff’s
Department, guided residents through the ins and outs of the program at the
Dec. 6 meeting.

"She was very informative," said Betsy LaBarge, newly appointed director of
the program. "We got lots of facts, figures, stats, trends, and in general found
out what residents can do to prevent neighborhood crimes."

McClurg also provided information packets, window decals and lawn signs.
"It was a terrific turnout," LaBarge said. "I thought there’d be maybe a dozen
show up. But people were really concerned. It was serious business. We all
had an attitude of ‘we’re gonna do this.’"

At the meeting the members broke up the area into six blocks of 11-14 homes
and a captain was selected for each block. Information was gathered as to
tenant names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, vehicle
descriptions, number of residents and ages, and whether the residences were
occupied full-time or part-time.

Further information is being collected to include identification of regular
visitors such as gardeners, housekeepers, babysitters and health care
providers.

"We are now prepared to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior, and watch
for things that don’t look right," LaBarge said. "Plus, we got to meet other
people and to know our neighborhood better. We bonded."

Another meeting will be set up soon to discuss motion sensitive lights or
timers, with the possibility of making a bulk purchase to keep costs down.
The neighborhood watch program is the first of its kind for the Mountain
community.