[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=37856.89

Sheriff holds town meeting

From Staff Reports

LA PORTE - Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer said 72 residents attended a sheriff's town hall meeting March 24 at St. John Kanty Community Hall in the Saugany Lake area.

The meeting lasted about two hours and was attended by residents from the areas of Saugany Lake, Hudson Lake and Rolling Prairie.

Also in attendance were 18 La Porte County Sheriff's Department members who assisted Mollenhauer in answering various questions during and after the meeting.

Numerous topics were covered during the talk, including residents' concern over area vandalism and a rash of area thefts from vehicles.

Also discussed was the implementation of area neighborhood watch programs, the important communication of neighbors looking out for each other and the importance of reporting suspicious activities when they occur to the sheriff's office.

With the approaching summer months the problem of speeders driving through the area was discussed along with possible solutions to the problems.

Mollenhauer told the assembled residents that all of their concerns would be considered and discussed with command staff personnel.

Wills Township Trustee Stan Hynek said that he and many area residents were very pleased with the quick resolution of the recent vandalism case involving the damage to the New Prairie school busses.

Mollenhauer called the meeting a success, and Chief of Detective Captain John Boyd felt that the meeting was productive for both the area residents and the Sheriff's Office.

[Ang]

Neighborhood Watch neighborhoods are awesome if the residents really pay attention.

I used to live on the east side, on Jackson St.--one block off the Boulevard. One night my son and his friends had dressed up in camo and face paint and they had their Nerf guns and were playing war games in the yards between me and the neighbors.

The cops knocked on my door and said that I lived in a neighborhood watch neighborhood and that some of my neighbors had seen some suspicious activity around my house. They wanted to know if everything was okay, or if I was under threat. I was pretty impressed.

I told him all was well and it was just the boys playing war games outside in the dark. He wasn't convinced. I had to round up all the boys so he could see them in their get-ups before he felt comfortable enough to leave.

That's Willie Milsap's ward.

Neighborhood Watch neighborhoods are awesome if the residents really pay attention.