Monthly Archives: April 2014

What do new Members get for the Enrollment fee?

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FIRST: Neighborhood Guard is completely run by unpaid volunteers.

This includes:

  • The Organization does NOT have any staff (paid or unpaid)
  • The Organization does NOT have any Paid Officers or Boardmembers
  • The organization does NOT provide any benefits for the board members/Officers (Healthcare, Life insurance etc – we don’t do any of that)
  • The Non-profit does NOT pay for food or drink during Board meetings
  • NO services are purchased from Boardmembers, their family, friends,employers, or companies etc.
  • Board members cannot directly use organization funds to pay for organization expenses. Each board member must personally front the expenses and then will only get reimbursed if and when the expense is approved by the board.(This reduces potential abuse, not that we have had any)
  • Neighborhood Guard does NOT make political contributions

SECOND: All the money is used for Crime Prevention.

  • Financial Aid to underprivileged neighborhoods for participation in Neighborhood Guard – Feeling safe should not be dependant on financial resources.
    • Contact us for details on the financial aid program.
  • Recruiting and outreach – The more neighborhoods that participate in Neighborhood Guard the safer we all are.
    • Flyers
    • Business Cards
    • Snacks for potential members at recruiting events
    • Pens and printed signup sheets, clipboards
  • Training for new neighborhoods
    • Training equipment
      • Training Camera
      • Projector
      • Screen
      • Network equipment for Training Setup
    • Lunch for Members during all-day training
  • Software development
    • Development and installation tools
      • High Quality Network Tester
      • Development Raspberry Pi
    • Purchase of critical commercial software not available as open source (luckily we have not had to exercise this option yet)
    • Open Source development
      • Pizza and Red Bull for Hackathons.
  • Administrata
    • Insurance for non-profit Board members
    • Envelopes and stamps for postal forward
    • Internet domain and Web-site hosting.
    • State fees for incorporation as Non-profit
    • Federal filing Fees for 501(c)3 status

Priority in Distribution of Funds:

  1. Administrata – we cannot exist if we don’t pay our filing fees so this must come first.
  2. Financial Aid (Allocated in 2014: 25% of money after administrata)
  3. Recruiting/Training (Allocated in 2014: 25% of money after administrata, if we don’t use the money then it becomes available for Financial Aid)
  4. Commercial software (Allocated in 2014: 25% of money after administrata, If we don’t spend the money then it becomes available for Financial Aid and Training)
  5. Open Source software (Allocated in 2014: 25% of money after administrata, If we don’t spend the money then it becomes available for Financial Aid and Training)

THIRD: Unique Member benefits

  • Installation Support
    Volunteers from Neighborhoods already online with Neighborhood Guard will come and train you and will be by your side during the entire installation process, no matter how many times you have to re-adjust the infrared and night sensitivity to get it right.
  • Ongoing support
    Typically once the system runs it requires very little support – but we are here for you.
  • Easy Access to our New – Yet to be completely announced Raspberry Pi Project for buffering and upload.
  • Influence over new features developed in the Neighborhood Guard software
    So you want that automatic License plate Database? Become a member to make it happen.
  • Access to Members only online services – including:
    • Best Practices knowledge exchange
    • Data Exchange with other neighborhoods
    • [Planned] Online reporting of images directly to the police
    • [Planned] Crime statistics for Membership neighborhoods vs. non-members.

Crime Team Procedure – Between crimes

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What is expected of the Crime team when no crime is happening? Are we going to review each image looking for a crime?

Reviewing each image every day is a waste of good family quality time. However it is a good idea to make sure that no spider decided to put a web in front of the camera.

Here is a sample set of procedures that your neighborhood can use as a starting point.

============= Sample Crime Procedure ================

Crime Team Procedures:

The Crime Team will divide each month into shifts of equal length. Each Crime Team member will take one shift for duty during the month. During a shift, the team member will have the following responsibilities:

  1. Monitor each camera at least once per day to ensure it is operating and no obstructions are blocking its view.
  2. If a camera is not operating, inform the other team members and together determine what’s wrong. Take necessary steps to make the camera operational again.
  3. If a camera view is obstructed, remove the obstruction.
  4. If a crime or other incident is reported by a neighbor, review the camera images to identify possible suspect vehicles, contact the neighbor for additional details as needed, and prepare and send a report to the Police as appropriate. (see separate procedure)

If a team member will be away or otherwise unable to cover their shift, that member will swap shifts with another team member or otherwise arrange for coverage during their absence.

Once per month or more frequently if necessary, the camera lenses should be cleaned of dust and grasses/branches cut back to ensure clear views.

  • Only eyeglass cleaner or specially formulated lens cleaner and a soft lint-free cloth should be used on the lenses.

Once per calendar quarter, the Crime Team will send an electronic reminder to all neighbors to submit any changes to the trusted vehicle registry.

================ End Sample Crime Procedure ========================