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 FWPD West Division Newsletter
March 2024 Volume 2
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On March 2, 2024, Citizens On Patrol Volunteer Coordinator Shirley Zertuche and Crime Prevention Specialist Steve Mitsuhashi conducted two workshops on the Fort Worth Police Department's Community Policing initiatives. Attendees of the workshop had an opportunity to learn about the variety of programs offered by the Community Support group with a specific emphasis on Citizens On Patrol. In addition, residents had an opportunity to learn about the multiple crime prevention programs and services offered by the department so residents could educate themselves on how to add "layers of protection" to make it more difficult for them to become victims of a crime. Citizens on Patrol and Crime Prevention Specialists staffed information tables at the event so that residents could ask questions or obtain additional information about any of the programs that were presented in the workshop.
The Lake Como Neighborhood Association Captures Four Awards at the Mayor's Annual Neighborhood Awards Luncheon
The Lake Como Neighborhood Association captured four awards at the Mayor's Annual Neighborhood Awards luncheon including the Spirit of Fort Worth Award, the Mayor's Civic Engagement & Community Collaboration Award and the prestigious Fort Worth Neighborhood of the Year Award. In addition, Carol Kirby Brown was honored and recognized as the recipient of the Fort Worth Neighbor of the Year Award.
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 NPOs Janzen and Villagomez join kindergarten students at High Ridge Church Community Day.
NPOs Janzen and Villagomez along with Patrol Officers Rivas and Robison, Air One officer Marti, and Air One pilot Boecker recently visited High Ridge Church to celebrate Community Day. The students had an opportunity to meet with the officers, tour a patrol car as well as the Air One helicopter.
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NPO Beat
Andrew Johns joins West Division as new the NPO for K15.
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NPO Johns has been with FWPD for 20 years. 10 of those years were spent in West Patrol, 4 years in Central Division as an NPO and the last 6 years has been spent with the HOPE unit.
Welcome back to West Division NPO Johns.
NPO Vasquez who previously covered K15 will now be assigned to beat K19.
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NPO J.B. Henderson retires after a 20 year career with the Fort Worth Police Department.
After serving 20 years in the military NPO J.B. Henderson joined the FWPD in March 2004. After 20 years of dedicated service to the residents of Fort Worth, J.B. Henderson has retired from the police department. NPO Henderson told me that he and his wife will spend time traveling and spending time with their grandchildren. We wish NPO Henderson well in his retirement. |
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Ralph Park named NPO for L13 as NPO Howze begins transitioning to retirement. NPO Bryant will transition from K19 to become the new NPO for L18.
Officer Ralph Park will be taking over beat L13 effective March 23, 2023 as NPO Steven Howze begins taking his discretionary time as he transitions into retirement. Officer Park has been assigned to West Patrol for the past 8 years and has become one of the more seasoned Field Training Officers for the 2nd shift. Officer Park has a great depth of knowledge and understanding of West Division and will become a significant contributor to the unit. NPO Bryant who previously covered K19 will now be assigned to beat L18 to replace the recently retired NPO Henderson.
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What are NPO's
By having the Neighborhood Patrol Officers dedicated to specific geographic areas, the officers are not only able to become more familiar with the area than regular patrol officers, but they are also able to serve as a resource for and get to know area residents and business owners, learn about neighborhood concerns, and build working relationships with area Citizen on Patrol volunteers to work hand-in-hand in reducing neighborhood crime and promoting crime prevention tools.
Primary Duties:
- Work with crime analysts to identify crime trends within assigned neighborhoods, maintain open lines of communication with detectives, and assist the Information Management Section and supervisors in planning appropriate actions to address issues.
- Foster positive community leadership as a means to empower citizens within their neighborhoods by encouraging involvement in Citizens on Patrol, Citizen Police Academy, and Crime Watch to work collaboratively to reduce crime and promote crime prevention tools.
- Maintain open lines of communication between residents, business owners and the police department by attending community meetings and events, including neighborhood association and other community meetings.
- Recruit Citizen on Patrol volunteers, schedule them for training, and provide on-going training and correspondence to encourage and retain active memberships.
Enter your address on http://oneaddress.fortworthtexas.gov/ You will find your BEAT and NPO assigned as well as your nearest City Facilities, Services, and Crime Data.
211 Texas
Connecting People and Services
No matter where you live in Texas, you can dial 2-1-1, or (877) 541-7905, and find information about resources in your local community. Whether you need help finding food or housing, child care, crisis counseling or substance abuse treatment, one number is all you need to know.
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Scam Alert!
New tech creates fake calls and voicemails
Everyone knows to look for phony emails – they can appear in your email inbox or even at work. Scammers can easily make messages that appear to come from anywhere, like your boss’s email account or a close family member. But what about phone calls and voicemail? Scammers can use new AI technology to mimic the voice of someone you know and create a phone call or voicemail recording. This “voice cloning” technology has recently advanced, and anyone with the right software can clone a voice from a very small audio sample.
How this scam works
At work, you get a voicemail from your boss. They instruct you to wire thousands of dollars to a vendor for a rush project. The request is out of the blue. But it’s the boss’s orders, so you make the transfer. A few hours later, you see your boss and confirm that you sent the payment. But there’s one big problem; your manager has no idea what you are talking about! It turns out that the message was fake. At home, you may receive a phone call or voicemail from a family member in an urgent situation like an accident or a medical emergency. They provide convincing details and ask for money immediately via a digital wallet payment app like Venmo or PayPal. You find out later that the story wasn’t true, and your money is gone. A consumer recently shared on Scam Tracker, “Received call on 1-26-24 I thought it was my daughter-in-law she said Hi mom calling to say she was pulled over driving and has a broken nose and is now being. She was frantic to have me call the lawyer right away. She asked me 3 times if I wrote the name & number down. I said yes. She said she had to go right now as they are taking her. Her voice sounded just like my daughter-in-law.” With the US now amid the 2024 election season, scammers may use the technology to mimic candidates’ voices to sway voters or potentially drum up “donations.”
How to avoid similar scams
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Resist the urge to act immediately. No matter how convincing a phone call or voicemail may sound, hang up or close the message if something doesn’t feel right. Call the person who claimed to have called you directly with the phone number you have saved for them. Don’t call back the number provided by the caller or caller ID. Ask questions that would be hard for an impostor to answer correctly.
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Don’t send money if you’re in doubt. If the caller urgently asks you to send money via a digital wallet payment app or a gift card, that may be a red flag for a scam. If you wire money to someone and later realize it’s a fraud, the police must be alerted.
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Secure your accounts. Whether at work or home, set up multifactor authentication for email logins and other changes in email settings. At work, verify changes in information about customers, employees, or vendors.
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At work, train your staff. Create a secure culture at your office by training employees in internet security. Make it a policy to confirm all change and payment requests before transferring. Don’t rely on email or voicemail.
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Community Center Events
LVT Rise Community Center
Thomas Place Community Center
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The FWPD West Division Newsletter has gone digital. To subscribe to the newsletter, either scan the QR code or push the button below. |
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