Westlawn Courtyard Captains Club Organized
Apr 20th, 2009
Safe & Sound Community Partner Aaron Edwards always attend the Westlawn Resident Council meetings. From the meetings he heard residents express concerns about theft, nuisance properties, drug dealing, issues with noise, etc. A lot of the residents had been victims of these crimes and were tired of these problems. Aaron was in the midst of trying to plan a new block watch group with Mrs. Parks of the resident council. Yet, he envisioned all of the council board members starting a full circle of block watch captains. Aaron felt that, if residents saw the council as serious about block watches, others would follow.
Mrs. Parks worked with Aaron to identify 12 courtyard captains who would be dedicated to reducing crime and helping keep Westlawn clean and safe. They planned a “Meet and Greet’” gathering and invited Assistant District Attorney Mike Mahoney and the Community Prosecution Unit Team (CPUT) officers. Through this experience, the officers got to know each other and began to establish a better working relationship.
Mrs. Parks worked to identify block watch captains in each courtyard of the housing development. They now have a monthly block club meeting to check in, share information about what’s going on in Westlawn, and invite speakers talk about a variety of resource topics that benefit residents.
Two of the great accomplishments of this group are the t-shirts they made and the purchase of two-way radios. The shirts let other residents know about the group, its purpose and helps recruit more residents. The radios keep block captains in touch with each other during safety walks and they also use them for communication during large events at Westlawn. The radios were put into action at the first official event on April 18th. The day was part of the Great American Clean-up and the Marquette University Hunger Task Force Clean-up. The event brought residents and student volunteers together to improve the cleanliness and safety of Westlawn.
Aaron Edwards spent the winter months planning with Mrs. Parks and other residents to get the Courtyard Captains’ group established. He is very happy that the group is ready and willing to contribute to improving the quality of life in Westlawn and have already made significant progress in their neighborhood!
