South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Coral Springs Neighborhood Shadow Wood has formed a Crime Watch group

Arun Sivasankaran asivasankaran@tribune.com

4:56 PM EDT, November 3, 2011

Shadow Wood community in Coral Springs has had only three burglaries in the last six years, even though there has been an increase in residential and vehicle burglaries in Coral Springs and surrounding communities, particularly in 2011.

“We have kept burglars away because we work hard to keep our neighborhood safe,” Louis DeGraffenreid, a Shadow Wood resident, said. “I know everyone in the neighborhood and that is the case with most of my neighbors. When you know your neighbors and care for them, it becomes a safer neighborhood.”

The Shadow Wood Neighborhood Watch group, which has been consistently active since 2005, was recently recognized by the City Commission for its unwavering commitment to make the community a safer place. According to DeGraffenreid, 52 of 62 homes in the community are part of the group.

When the city introduced a program called Make a Call, Make a Difference earlier this year, the group immediately jumped on board. With residents calling up police to report suspicious activity, police were able to make more than a few in-progress residential burglary arrests.

“This is our most successful [Neighborhood Watch] group by far,” Police Chief Duncan Foster said. “”This group was instrumental in getting the word out about our program Make a Call, Make a Difference and we were able to make some burglary arrests because people were looking out for their neighbors. We have fantastic schools and parks and we are doing our best to keep the crime rate down.”

“This is the only neighborhood in the city that has been doing it long term,” Officer Kerry Draddy, facilitator of the program, said. “We meet four times a year. When you have a successful program, you know your neighbors and their routines. You know who stays home and who does not. It is a successful program and we would really like other neighborhoods to get involved.”

Any community can form their own Neighborhood Watch

The Make a Call, Make a Difference program is for everyone in the community, including businesses, Draddy said.

“It is a city-wide initiative. The more people get involved, the more successful we will be in keeping crime down. If you see something odd, we rather you call us and it not be anything than you not call us and then wish you had. We have made quite a few arrests after responding to calls from people. In one week itself, we arrested several burglars,” Draddy said.

“We are taking the program to schools now,” Deputy Chief Kevin Montagna said. “We spoke with principals last week. We want people to call us immediately if they see something. A lot of kids call their parents first before they call us [but] we should be getting the first call.”

There has been an increase in residential and vehicle burglaries ever since the economy started going south, according to Montagna. “It is county-wide and certainly not limited to Coral Springs. One reason is that the price of gold has gone up dramatically. Another issue is that people leave cars unlocked, often with valuables inside.”

DeGraffenreid, who is one of the five block captains, is surprised that more communities do not have the Neighborhood Watch program. “It is certainly a deterrent. A few of us in the neighborhood got together to make this happen. We meet every 90 days in someone’s driveway. Draddy is great; she always has a guest speaker to talk about different topics. We are now trying to get another neighborhood involved.”