<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Dear Neighbors:<BR>
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At every Safety Meeting I have ever attended the Northern District Police officers have repeatedly warned us of the scam used by burglars to case the block for a good break-in prospect. Burglars will knock on the door to see if anyone answers the door and when someone does they pretend to have the wrong address. After you shut the door they will keep knocking on doors until they find a home where no one is home and which has an easy point of illegal entry. When this happens to us, the police advise us to get as good a description of the persons as possible and to call 911 immediately to report suspicious activity by persons who appear to be casing the block looking for a place to break in. You will get a quicker response from the police if you use a good description, call immediately, and use your crime watch number. By now, everyone in Charles Village should have a crime watch number. If you do not, please go online to the CVCA website at www.charlesvillage.net, download one, and fax it to the Northern District fax number and put in "CVCA" for the Community Association and you should get your number in the mail in about 10 days to two weeks. With a crime watch number your call will be treated more seriously than an anonymous call because the police officers are skeptical of the veracity of the call when the called does not want to be identified. With a crime watch number, you can remain anonymous to the perpetrator but the police know that their is a valid citizen complaint behind the call. By being good crime prevention partners with the Northern District police, we will keep our neighborhood safer and criminals will learn to go elsewhere because Charles Village is filled with vigilant residents.<BR>
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By copy of this to Steve Gerwitz, I ask him to circulate this message to the discussion list as well and any other lists where the initial warning was published.<BR>
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Thank you.<BR>
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Sharon Guida, Chair, CVCA Safety Committee</FONT></HTML>