Q1 2025 Neighborhood Watch Meeting Recap
March 6, 2025
About 50 Avon Woods neighbors gathered for the first 2025 quarterly Neighborhood Watch Meeting on Thursday, March 6 at Independent Presbyterian Church. Following are meeting notes and a few of the resources that were shared:
Crime Prevention Grant
Neighborhood Watch lead Mary K. Allen shared the good news of Avon Woods being awarded a $2,500 crime prevention grant from the Memphis Police Department. At an awards ceremony in early January, MPD awarded $47,000 in grants to 17 Neighborhood Watch and community groups to support neighborhood community-building events and to improve safety. Having applied unsuccessfully in 2023, Mary K. led the charge again with lessons learned and wrote the application that succeeded in Avon Woods achieving this grant. Per our grant application, the monies will be invested in two areas: Bringing Neighbors Together and Safety & Security. Funds have been earmarked for purchasing folding tables, pop-up canopies and a portable PA system for neighborhood events, and a limited number of doorbell cameras and motion-sensitive flood lights for Avon Woods residents who display a need and commit to their installation and use.
Additionally Avon Woods Neighborhood Association has funded new yard signs for publicizing events such as our monthly Food Truck Socials, and a supply of refrigerator magnets with “Useful Numbers” such as emergency hotlines, power and streetlight outage reporting, that were distributed to attendees at the meeting.
Neighborhood Crime Incidents Report
Avon Woods resident Jay Perdue shared with the group a look at crime incidents reported through the Avon Woods Neighborhood Watch Block Captains since its inception in August 2024. In the six months since our Neighborhood Watch system has been in place, a total of 26 incidents have been reported through the Block Captains — 14 acts of vehicle vandalism, 4 counts of other vandalism (items stolen from utility trailers, vandalizing mailboxes, and one robbery of a lawncare crew), 2 bicycle thefts, and 6 incidents of suspicious activity.
While more area crime beyond these 26 incidents has been reported to police in that time period, these are the incidents that have been shared between our 17 current Block Captains, suggesting the need for more Block Captains and more vigilant reporting of criminal activity through our Block Captains system.
To bring visibility to our Block Captains coverage, Jay also shared a look at our Neighborhood Watch Google map (below), showing the areas that are covered by Block Captains, as well as the gaps where additional Block Captains are needed. Note this map is accessible only to those with the direct link and not viewable by the general public.
Anyone interested in volunteering as a Block Captain or wishing to be assigned to a nearby Block Captain were advised to contact Mary K. Allen.
Memphis Police Department Updates
Colonel Chris Moffatt, chief commander of the Appling Farms Station (the MPD precinct that includes Avon Woods), addressed the group and introduced the precinct’s new Neighborhood Watch coordinator, Janice Jones. Colonel Moffatt and Ms. Jones both congratulated the group on our high level of involvement and active participation exhibited by the large attendance that night and our months-long commitment to Neighborhood Watch. “It’s really all about some very basic things that you all know but that bear repeating as new people roll in and out of the neighborhood, and simply to be reminded,” said Colonel Moffatt. “Know your neighbors. Report the crime. And be accountable for each other.”
Colonel Moffatt fielded questions from the group, and reminded us about Connect2Memphis.org, a safety program that makes it easier for police to track down video evidence after a crime occurs. Registering your camera does not allow MPD access to your live video stream; it only enables investigators to know that a camera is present at your location so they can more easily request video evidence should an incident occur.
A Look Ahead at a Busy 2025
Avon Woods resident Derrick Von Stein shared a look ahead at key dates for the Avon Woods neighborhood in 2025. In addition to our quarterly Neighborhood Watch meetings, Food Truck Season opens April 17 with our monthly food truck socials at Avon Park planned through September (with some additional Saturday morning coffee trucks still in the planning). Highlights for the year will include our Annual Avon Woods Fourth of July Parade and Annual Fall Picnic to be held in October. New this year will be a National Night Out event on the first Tuesday of August.
Avon Woods resident Paige Wallace shared a community service event open to the neighborhood volunteers — a garden clean-up and fence installation at Avon Lenox School on Saturday, April 26. Representatives from Avon Lenox were also present and shared how the school helps young adults, ages 17-22, with various disabilities such as autism, and how the garden is intended to be used for their education, exploration and well-being. Anyone interested in helping with the garden clean-up may contact Paige via email.
Neighborhood Communications
Rounding out the meeting, Jay reminded the group of our growing means of communication, beginning with our website as the hub — avonwoods.com. Neighbors were encouraged to sign up for email notifications, which include news of Neighborhood Watch meetings as well as social gatherings such as the upcoming monthly Food Truck Socials, and the annual Fourth of July Parade and Fall Picnic. Additionally, neighbor Sally Fineup has volunteered to develop and maintain social media accounts for Avon Woods — launching in the next few weeks. Avon Woods “Useful Numbers” refrigerator magnets were distributed to all those in attendance with plenty more available to be distributed at future Avon Woods events.
Special Thanks
We extend sincere thanks to our neighbor Bob Hicks and Independent Presbyterian Church for hosting our Neighborhood Watch meeting. And to Colonel Chris Moffatt and Ms. Janice Jones of the Memphis Police Department for volunteering their time to participate.
