Neighborhood Watch

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Do not leave your vehicles unlocked

• Do not leave anything of value visible from outside your vehicle
• Park in your driveway or garage if possible
• Keep sheds and garages locked
• Leave your outside lights on all night
• Become more involved in your community, join your Civic League

If you are leaving town:

• Alert a trusted neighbor
• Stop newspaper and mail delivery
• Install timers on interior and exterior lights
• Leave a car parked in your driveway or ask a neighbor to park their car In your driveway
  

If you suspect anything out of the ordinary, see suspicious people, or see suspicious activity in the neighborhood: call the VBPD non

emergency number, 757-385-5000. Give them a description of the person or persons and describe why you feel they are acting suspicious. If you see an actual crime being committed or about to be committed, call VBPD at 911 immediately.
Some of us may be hesitant to report suspicious people or vehicles fearing that we will be regarded as “snoops”. Your own neighbors are your single best security device. The greatest deterrent to a would-be criminal is the fear of getting caught. Each concerned citizen is another pair of eyes to let the criminal know that he is being watched. You are a vital part of Neighborhood Watch. One or two people cannot watch 907 homes. It takes all of us to do our part. Thank you for doing your part it’s paying off.

From the "Lake Smith Ripples" January newsletter:

Happy New Year! from your Neighborhood Watch!

We made it through 2025 without too much crime activity in Lake Smith Terrace, Haygood Point, or Governor Square. That’s thanks to all of our good neighbors that keep watching out for suspicious activity and keeping our vehicles locked and our valuables out of sight. Criminals come into our community and soon leave empty handed and they spread the word that it’s slim pickings in this community. We have nine hundred families living here and with that many eyes watching we do not miss much that goes on around our homes. Everyone caring for their neighbors helps keep us all safe.

One of the things that binds a community together and helps to make it safe is having a strong, active Civic League. We are fortunate to have one of the best (if not the best) Civic League in Virginia Beach. With all that our Civic League offers it’s hard to believe that only 343 of 904 families are members. It’s time for the other 500+ families to make a New Year’s resolution

and join. You can use the membership form in this newsletter to join. If you can find a better bargain than the $20 per family that you will spend on your Civic League membership, please let me know.

We are now in the two coldest months of the year for Virginia Beach. We have to be prepared for the wild area weather that we experience here. We could have rain, ice, snow or 80 degree days in the span of only a few days. If you are not able to shovel snow you can have one of our neighborhood kids do it for you or if you don’t have to go anywhere just wait a day or so and it will

usually melt.

When we do get snow the main roads will get plowed, eventually. Getting to the main roads is the tricky part for our neighborhood. As the temperature rises the plowed snow will melt and flow onto the roads and as the evening approaches and the temperature drops below freezing that melted snow will freeze and become hazardous. Please be extra careful when the temperature drops below freeing while driving or walking

Make 2026 a joyous year for you and you family. Remember the happy times and enjoy them. There will be days that challenge us nd it's how we react to those days that gets us through to the next day.

Sam Hribal, Civic League Vice President