Bluff Park meeting addresses social media, neighborhood watch

Bluff Park residents met with city officials Oct. 14 to discuss such local issues as traffic, police presence and neighborhood watch in a town hall style meeting.

The meeting, which was meant to give residents the opportunity to voice questions and concerns, was held at Artists on the Bluff, and was moderated by Robin F. Schultz the founder of BluffParkAL.org.

“I think the world of this community,” said Mayor Gary Ivey. “I’ve always tried to come to the events up here, and I’ve tried to be responsive [to its concerns].”

Those concerns have recently been heard through social media and the internet, according to Schultz. He said the use of social media really took off a few months ago when Stephen Hertz created the Facebook group Bluff Park United in response to the rezoning issue within Hoover City Schools.   

The same thing happened when talk of building a Walmart in Bluff Park came up. The proposal was eventually withdrawn from the city council’s agendas because it was not well received within the community.

“The internet is basically what fueled people’s passion to stop both of those things,” Schultz said. “[Hertz] did exactly what social media and what the internet is supposed to do. He took it, he made it work and he actually got folks together in coming united — making it basically go away.”  

BluffParkAL.org, Schultz said, will now be working in conjunction with the Facebook group in order to connect the residents of Bluff Park.

Neighborhood watch programs are another way Schultz stressed to not only tie residents together, but also to make Bluff Park a safer place. Hoover Police Officer Brian Hale, who helps train neighborhood watch programs in Hoover, spoke on that issue.

 “We face a lot of challenges, and without you guys — you guys are our eyes and ears of the neighborhood,” Hale said. “Neighborhood watch was born, in the ‘70s, to decrease burglaries and car break-ins. Citizens had just had enough.  Now neighborhood watch has kind of evolved into whatever you want it to be.”

Hale explained that he has a lot of groups that don’t even call themselves neighborhood watches, but having one can make a huge difference. The Hoover Police Department was able to catch a burglar in a Hoover neighborhood because residents called the police when they noticed him looking in windows.

The residents also took photos of the man. Because of that, the police were able to link this burglar to other crimes he had committed all over Hoover.  

“Neighborhood watch works,” Hale said. “Through the years burglaries, car break-ins, criminal mischief and other residential-type crimes, in an active neighborhood watch area, studies have shown they are drastically lower. Is that because of anything we are doing? No.”

Although the Hoover Police Department is not responsible for creating neighborhood watch programs for residents, the department will provide training materials and even DVDs that show residents what to look for. Hale said it is as easy as forming a group and calling him in for a meeting.

The meeting was concluded by a question and answer session with the city officials in attendance. Check The Hoover Sun’s website tomorrow for a list of the issues that were voiced.