Bloomington neighbors know to dial 911 when faced with emergency situations, but many might feel wary about contacting the police when their quality of life is violated within their neighborhoods. \nThe Bloomington Police Department has scheduled a Neighborhood Watch Community Workshop for Thursday evening to unite neighbors, neighborhood representatives and members of the police department to establish community watch priorities and other goals for 2006.\n"The workshop is going to be on an interactive basis. We are going to make a couple of presentations and we encourage community members to come prepared with potential issues to discuss," said BPD Sgt. Scott Oldham. "We ask the audience to keep an open mind on how we might solve neighborhood problems. If community members know of a problem or what a solution might be, we need to discuss if that problem or solution is viable for the community."\nBloomington's Neighborhood Watch program is designed to assist community members by enhancing neighborhood security, according to BPD resource brochure. Neighborhood Watch is designed to help heighten the power of observation and encourage mutual assistance among neighbors.\nOldham said the primary focus of the workshop is to examine the current neighborhood watch reporting system and to chart a path needed to address community problems and other quality of life issues before major problems arise within neighborhoods. He said common neighbor concerns often involve parking issues, rabble- rousers and other illegal activity.\nAccording to a pamphlet entitled "Living Off Campus: Be a Good Neighbor" on the IU-Bloomington Web site, a student's awareness of his or her neighbors is as important as paying utility bills and buying groceries.\nThe pamphlet encourages students to find information about trash pick-up, recycling, parking permits and alcohol laws and to learn about the city's Quiet Nights Initiative, which promotes peaceful neighborhood environments. \nStudents and residents not involved in a neighborhood association are also invited to participate in the discussion, which will include information on how community members can form their own neighborhood watch groups.\nVickie Provine, a program manager for the City of Bloomington's Housing and Neighborhood Development, said current neighborhood associations consist of a few people living on a couple blocks to several hundred people living in large subdivisions.\n"Our neighborhoods in Bloomington have been living with students for years, and students have reached out and worked with the city to become better neighbors," she said. "Often times a good neighbor does something special for their neighbor like shoveling their walkway or helps out where they can by picking up litter. That kind of behavior creates a ripple effect throughout the neighborhood and puts a face on the community for many students."
Neighborhood MEETING\nWhen: 7 p.m. Feb. 23\nWhere: Police Headquarters, 220 E. Third St.
