EDITOR: In response to the issue that a concerned citizen raised on Dec. 8 in her “Letter to the Editor” titled, Warning needed, may I offer a suggestion.

Although law enforcement officers and other municipal safety officials may not always do what we, as citizens, might expect under certain circumstances; there are alternative steps that – we as neighbors – can take that just might help the cause. In this particular case, this home owner wondered why the neighborhood wasn’t given a “heads-up” regarding three prior incidents to the one that she and her husband experienced – theft of items from their parked vehicle.

One way neighbors may help one another, in addition to establishing a Neighborhood Watch zone, is to create an electronic neighborhood conference board on the Internet. Such a free communication tool may be created in a matter of minutes and limited to use by the residents within a certain area, whether it be a housing development, a single block of homes, or a cul-de-sac. Such a conference board has many uses that can keep a neighborhood aware of safety issues; as well as many other neighborhood concerns, for example: graffiti, abandoned carts, or disaster preparedness.

This doesn’t get official agencies “off the hook” for failing to warn citizens, when appropriate; but it does represent a constructive course of action that concerned citizens may take to protect themselves.

Any neighborhood interested in learning more about how to set up a free eNeighborhood Conference Board, contact whammer@petalumanet.org, directly with your name, street address, telephone number, and e-mail address.