Sunday, March 30, 2008

SAFE Experience



The following article was written by a neighbor who attended the free SAFE course offered by the Fairfax County Police department and was posted in the Greenwood Community Newsletter

Hello neighbors. I want to briefly share with you my Sexual Assault Free & Empowered (SAFE) experience. SAFE is a free self defense program for women. I read about it in the December Greenwood Newsletter and signed up for the February course. I attended all four sessions of the course and am so glad I did. Well trained instructors empowered me with knowledge of crime preventive strategies and provided actual hands-on training in physical defense techniques that I applied in a realistic controlled environment. Every woman in my class echoed how amazing the experience was for them and how confident they feel inflicting some serious bodily harm on a potential attacker. We all know there are people in our society that want to physically harm others and this program truly prepares you to react if threatened. The instructors told us several stories of women that have gone through the program and used the techniques they learned to successfully defend themselves. I strongly urge every Greenwood women to make it a priority to take this course. Your survival may very well depend on it.

Google search key words: SAFE Fairfax County
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/safe_selfdefense.htm

Individuals Lurking Behind Houses on Demme Place

Thank you to our Greenwood neighbor for being observant and alerting the police and the NWC to the following incident. This is a perfect example of how being aware of our surrounding and reporting detailed information can help keep our neighborhood safe. Please share this information with your neighbors. We can all do our part - be alert, turn on outside lights to increase safety and report any and all incidents to the police.

At 10:57pm on Friday, March 28, 2008, when my wife and I were returning home, we saw a group of four people wearing dark hooded sweatshirts and carrying large flashlights standing in the shadows of the common area behind 6338 Demme Pl.

I pointed my car to shine the headlights directly on them to get a better look at them. As soon as I lit them up, they quickly walked north east towards 6336 Demme Pl., then abruptly turned and headed west through the grassy common area behind 6338 through 6348 Demme Pl. I then drove my car west on Demme Pl. As soon as I got to 6348 Demme Pl., a man in a dark hooded sweatshirt came running southbound out from between 6348 and 6350 Demme Pl. As soon as he saw me, he reversed direction and ran northbound back between the houses into the darkness. I called the police and watched the area until the police arrived. The police checked the area.

Then, 3 hours later, at 1:58am on Saturday, March 29th, I looked out of my rear window and saw the shadow of a person walking eastbound across my back yard (cast by my rear patio light). I called the police again and asked them to check the area again.

As far as I know, the police never found anything.

I would highly encourage my Greenwood neighbors:
- to be aware that people are lurking in their back yards, probably casing for burglary or larceny
- to turn on their rear lights at night to eliminate the darkness that provides a safe haven to prospective burglars and thieves
- not to leave valuables outside
- to watch for people who don't belong, and call police to report any suspicious activity.