HNA News: Nighttime Safety "Dog" Walk Tonight at 10 p.m., Report on Disaster Prep Exercise, Crime Watch Reports

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Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter*

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1. Report on Citywide Disaster Preparedness Exercise

2. Nighttime Safety "Dog" Walk Tonight, Weds., Dec. 6, 10 p.m.

3. Crime Watch Report: Stranger Knocking on Apartment Doors on Webster Street at Halcyon Court

4. Crime Watch Report: Items Stolen Off Front Porch on Webster Street

5. HNA Dates for the New Year: Progressive Post-Holiday Potluck Sun. Jan. 21; Neighborhood Watch Meeting Sun. Feb. 4th

6. Labyrinth Community Peace Walk, Sun., Dec. 17, 3 p.m., Willard Middle School

There's an impromptu nighttime safety "dog" walk tonight at 10 p.m. (meet at Halcyon Commons Park; see item 2). This is a great way to monitor our neighborhood and help prevent crime. If you haven't tried it yet, please join us -- you don't have to have a dog, and it's a great way to get to know your neighbors!

-Nancy Carleton, HNA Co-Chair and E-Newsletter Editor

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1. Report on Citywide Disaster Preparedness Exercise

On November 30, Halcyon Neighborhood Association, represented by Nancy Carleton and Susan Hunter, participated in the City of Berkeley's Disaster Preparedness Exercise. This gave us a chance to practice using the walkie-talkies that came with our Disaster Supply Cache, which Nancy and Susan were trained in using at a City class on the Incident Command System (ICS) and Radio Communications. We also delivered a practice message to the Fire Station on College to be transmitted to the City's CERT Command by a ham radio operator. Below is a message received from Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong summarizing the results of this citywide drill:

I want to thank all the groups for participating in [last week's] exercise.  We learned a lot and will make appropriate modifications to the Disaster Cache Communications plan.  I will be putting together a draft with radio channel and PL code assignments so each group will know which channel to use during a disaster.   I will also put together a post exercise debrief to share with each group. 

 

Attached is a post exercise evaluation sheet.  Your feedback will help plot out information on a map of where we have the best and worst communications with the FRS/GMRS radios from the rooftop of City Hall.  Please complete it and send it back to via email to GDong@ci.berkeley.ca.us or vial mail to BFD, attn OES, 2100 Martin Luther King Way, 2nd Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704.

 

During the radio communications and ICS class, I discovered that the original 8 cache groups have older radios and do not have the capability to switch to Channel 16 PL 10.  I will try to provide each of the 8 cache groups with 2 radios that have that capability.  Iplan to place at least one GMRS radio on each fire engine, so each cache group and local fire engine will be able to communicate with each other during a disaster.  The fire engines and each disaster cache group will get a copy of each of cache groups location and designated radio channel.

 

It is obvious from the exercise that the participants learned how to use the radios from the Radio Communications / ICS class.  I had an information officer and a reporter from the East Bay Daily News standing behind me observing the radio test.  They indicated the groups sounded great and knew how to respond on the radio. I was surprised at how well the range and reception of these radios.  There are some gaps, but now that we know what they are, we can adjust our plans.

 

Where do we go from here?

 

1)  Radio Communications and ICS class: I will extend the class by 30 minutes to allow time for a table top exercise in ICS before the radio communication lesson and exercise.  This will reinforce the different ICS positions that we learned.

 

2)  I will try to schedule at least 3 "refresher trainings" during the spring and summer, like we had last August for the original 8 cache groups.  We had four stations set up to review the key points in fire suppression, disaster first aid, light search and rescue, ICS and radio communications.

 

3) I will be working with our community services work group to develop a panel discussion / summit with the 32 cache groups (or more) to create a means to network with each other, sustain our disaster groups, and develop ideas to improve disaster preparedness and response in the Berkeley community.

 

4)  We will be modifying some of our CERT classes to increase the amount of hands on time and adding training to include some of the disaster cache equipment we provided (backpack fire pump, low-flow fire nozzles, and generator operations).  We encourage your groups to send more members to attend the CERT classes.

 

5)   As we plan future exercises, I hope your group will be willing to participate in future exercises that will include radio communications, ICS drills and/or pandemic flu response.  Your participation is important to allow City staff to refine and improve disaster and emergency response.

 

On behalf of the City, the Berkeley Fire Department, CERT instructors, and OES staff, I want to thank you for participating in our city-wide disaster exercise and being involved in a disaster organized neighborhood group!!

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2. Nighttime Safety "Dog" Walk Tonight, Weds., Dec. 6, 10 p.m.

Nighttime Safety "Dog" Walk Organizer Pamela Dameron sends the following announcement of an impromptu "dog" walk:

Hi, all dog walkers and friends:

 

Due to finals and research projects, I'm only able to make impromptu dog walks. Crime tends to rise in December, so we need to continue making our dog walks.  For those who cannot make the impromptu walks, when you are walking through the neighborhood, be aware of any suspicious behavior and call the nonemergency number (510-981-5900) for the Berkeley Police. Give the dispatcher as much detail about the suspects as possible. Just having the police drive through the neighborhood helps prevent crime.

 

For those who can walk, we will be meeting at 10 p.m. Wednesday evening, December 6, 2006, in Halcyon Commons Park (Halcyon at Prince). I apologize for the late notice, and hope to see you all there.

Editor's Note: For more information and to get the schedule for the future (plus to confirm the dates listed here and let us know you're coming), contact Pamela Dameron <usasleigh@sbcglobal.net>. (Remember: No dog required to participate!)

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3. Crime Watch Report: Stranger Knocking on Apartment Doors on Webster Street at Halcyon Court

A Webster Street neighbor reports:

"A stranger -- a black man --  was knocking on doors in our apartment complex around 10 p.m. [one] evening [last week],  I didn't feel comfortable opening my door, and I couldn't understand what he was saying to me through my window glass, so I waved him on his way.  He went to several doors in the complex. Made it up to the third floor. I don't know what he was looking for help with, since I couldn't understand his words. He looked familiar, like he might be one of the guys who panhandles very occasionally near Whole Foods, but not one of the regulars. I am pretty sure I have seen him around Telegraph in Berkeley. I did call the police, and asked them to drive-by and keep an eye on the building."

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4. Crime Watch Report: Items Stolen Off Front Porch on Webster Street

A Webster Street neighbor reports:

"Just an alert to the Halcyon Neighborhood: Our jog stroller was stolen off our front porch a week ago Wednesday during the day.  Our porch is behind an unlocked gate and through a small garden.  The stroller wasn't locked, so it was our own naive fault, but just a heads-up that things on our porches aren't safe.  The police officer mentioned that strollers and bike trailers are especially desirable to the homeless, to carry things in, so lock them up!"

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5. HNA Dates for the New Year: Progressive Post-Holiday Potluck Sun. Jan. 21; Neighborhood Watch Meeting Sun. Feb. 4

Details still to come, but please mark your calendars now for the following:

Fabulous Post-Holiday Progressive Potluck

(we progress to three or four households for the various courses; this is one of our most popular events of the year!)

Sunday, January 21, 2007, 6-9 p.m.

[A host is still needed for one of the courses; please contact Nancy Carleton <ngc2@mindspring.com> if you'd be willing to open your home to your neighbors for one of the  courses (which take about 40-45 minutes each).]

Neighborhood Watch Meeting (focusing on Crime and Disaster Preparedness)

Sunday, February 4, 2007 (exact time to be determined, either late afternoon or early evening)

Location TBA

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6. Labyrinth Community Peace Walk, Sun., Dec. 17, 3 p.m., Willard Middle School

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m., Sun., Dec. 17, Willard Middle School (Telegraph Ave. between Derby & Stuart, Berkeley). Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. Rain cancels. Contact  info@eastbaylabyrinthproject.org, 526-7377.

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The Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter:  The HNA E-Newsletter forwards occasional crime watch notices as well as announcements about events of interest to neighbors in the Ashby/Telegraph/Woolsey/Adeline area of south Berkeley, including community-building potlucks, greening projects, disaster preparedness meetings, and work parties in Halcyon Commons Park. If you're receiving this email, either you signed up at a neighborhood event or a neighbor may have forwarded it to you. Please note that to prevent spam, HNA always uses bcc and does not share your email address with third parties. If you wish to be removed from this list, please reply to HNA Co-Chair Nancy Carleton/Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com>. Please feel free to pass the HNA E-Newsletter on to other neighbors you think might be interested.

HNA Listserve:  If you would like to receive messages (and participate in discussions) on the HNA Listserve, please reply to Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com> indicating your interest, and you will receive an invitation to join.

HNA Blog:  If you would like to view previous newsletters online (and comment via a blog format), please visit http://halcyoncourt.blogspot.com/

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