FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) - Car theft is one of the most prevalent crimes in the city, but residents of the Fairfield Neighborhood said it's not much of a problem for them.
"We can attribute that to neighbors really caring. We're all keeping an eye on each other," Holly Munoz, president of the Fairfield Neighborhood said.
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Residents of the Fairfield Neighborhood Association met tonight to see how they can make things better because they are facing some challenges- mainly with teens.
"I think that's the number one trouble we have in our neighborhood. there's just you've got after school kids who are unattended that are going around the neighborhood going around breaking windows. they're throwing rocks at cars. I mean just petty things teenagers do," Munoz said.
She said not much can be done unless they're caught in action.
Some of the residents are looking forward to the quality of life initiative Officer Tom Vachon with the Fort Wayne Police Department shared with them starting next month.
"We're going to work with the different neighborhood associations regarding anything with quality of life like abandon vehicles, trash in alleyways, maybe homes that need to be addressed by neighborhood code even as far as dog nuisances, and issues in the city parks," Officer Vachon said.
Some residents installed cameras which help a little bit but believe having those extra set of eyes makes a difference.
Last year there were 57 calls into police for juvenile investigations.
"Nobody wants to get kids in trouble but we also don't want them damaging our property that costs everybody money. That's been the main focus and concern for our residents," Munoz added.
Munoz also said if no one reports the problem, the city doesn't know, so having the police presence will help things get addressed faster.
