Seeing this sign got me thinking …
“PROTECTED BY VIDEO CAMERAS”
What are they going to do, hit the bad guys over the head with their cameras?
How about “This neighborhood protected by bouquets of pansies”? I think that is just as effective.
I am NOT reassured to be on video cameras.
I am not comforted that others are either.
Whoopie! My beating or demise was recorded on video. How lovely. Maybe it will play for a few minutes on You Tube. My 15 seconds of fame.
Really now, does anyone think this old brown sign is going to protect them or their neighborhood? Heck, any perpetrator a notch up from brain dead could use a stolen car or stolen license plates to reduce the odds of getting caught from “fat chance” to “no way”.
Some neighborhoods take it up a notch. With Neighborhood Watch, the neighbors are theoretically eagerly watching out their windows and reporting suspicious behavior in real time via their telephones to the 911 call center.
Of course a neighborhood of watchers peeking through their Venitian blinds doesn’t really grab my community spirit nor sense of security all that much better.
In most cases, A hard-working, dedicated individual went door to door in the neighborhood distributing neighborhood watch information, interrupting television viewing and signing up people to meet the local sheriff’s rules to qualify for the neighborhood watch sign.
Most of the Neighborhood Watch signs you see will be as faded as the inspiration that got them put up in the first place.
Now a community, that would really be a comfort as well as an effective criminal deterrent would not only know each other, the reasonably expected comings and goings in the neighborhood, but they would help each other in times of need. They would play together, barbeque together, discuss emergency preparation, and practice defensive skills together every once in a while.
Here’s a sign that would work:
