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The Civic Association produced a flier to respond to the rash of stickups and vehicle breakins in December 1999 and January 2000:

ATTENTION ALL BELLEVUE RESIDENTS

  THIEVES ARE STALKING OUR STREETS

  RASH OF BREAK-INS, ROBBERIES UNPRECEDENTED

  WAKE-UP CALL TO ALL RESIDENTS --- GET INVOLVED, HELP END CRIME WAVE

  Exaggeration and hype? You decide:

  ·        In the past five months, 23 cars or trucks in Bellevue have been broken into, including 5 vehicles on the same night (Jan. 15) on Claremont Avenue.

·        Thousands of dollars of property has been forcefully taken from vehicles, including purses, stereos, CDs, photographic equipment, gun ammunition and a carfull of Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.

·        The Bellevue CVS drug store has been held up twice in the past month (Dec. 26, Jan. 13) by a man brandishing a pistol who forced the manager to open the store safe during regular business hours as Bellevue residents, including children, shopped in the store.

·        The Exxon station at Brook and Azalea, the BP station and Check Cashing store at Azalea and Chamberlayne, and an ATM customer on Brook Road all have been robbed in the past 30 days. 

·        One brazen thief stole a car off Chevy Chase Street December 8, then returned the very next day and for several days after that to try to steal the same car again.

·        Four Bellevue homes have been burglarized, including break-ins on Lorraine (Dec. 29) and Greycourt (Jan. 6).

·        Several residents have seen suspicious persons prowling allies, crouching behind cars or running down streets after dark.

  Nearly all of these incidents were reported to Richmond Police, but the timeliness of police response, investigations, follow-through and communications -- both internally and with Bellevue residents -- have been inconsistent. Meanwhile, the crime wave in Bellevue continues.

  IT’S UP TO BELLEVUE TO PROTECT BELLEVUE. EACH OF US CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, AND EVERYONE SHOULD TRY.

  How?

  ·        Participate in Neighborhood Watch and lend your eyes and ears to Bellevue’s safety. It’s simple: if you see or hear anything suspicious, call 911 (police), then call 257-9705, our Neighborhood Watch and Patrol Hotline. That second call activates a neighborhood-wide phone tree that shares your crime news with the rest of the neighborhood. Many blocks in Bellevue already are “plugged in” to the Neighborhood Watch network and routinely get these up-to-the-minute crime reports so residents know what to look out for and how to protect themselves. But many blocks are not. If you live in one of the following blocks, YOU’RE NOT GETTING THE WORD BECAUSE YOUR BLOCK DOESN’T PARTICIPATE: Avondale, 1200, 1300 (northside only), 1400 blocks; Bellevue, 1300, 1600 blocks; Brook, 3800, 3900, 4000, 4200, 4400, 4500, 4600, 4700 blocks; Fauquier, 3801-3818, 4000 block; Greycourt, 1300 block; Hermitage, 3800, 3900, 4000 blocks; MacArthur, 4000 block; Newport, 3900, 4300 blocks; Nottoway, 1200, 1400 blocks; Laburnum, 1200, 1400, 1500 blocks; Windsor, 1200 block.

  What to do? Call 262-6835 or 266-6753 to learn how to create a phone tree for your block so you and your neighbors will be in the know. It’s very simple and takes little or no time. And it’s vital to helping stem crime on your block.

  ·        Volunteer to give 1.5 hours a month to the Bellevue Security Patrol. THIS IS NOT HARD OR DANGEROUS WORK. All you do is ride around the neighborhood with a family member or neighbor for an hour and a-half once a month at a time that is convenient for you, report anything you see that’s suspicious, then go home. Training for patrol duty (two hours at Battery Park Christian Church, corner of Brook and Bellevue) is scheduled soon for Feb. 19, 9-11 a.m.; March 13, 7-9 p.m.; and April 8, 9-11 a.m. For more information or to sign up, call 266-1357. 

  Why should 15% of Bellevue watch out for the remaining 85%? You can't complain that you want crime to go away if you are not part of the solution.  Get involved and stay involved. Crime does not take a holiday and neither should you. Join Neighborhood Watch and the Bellevue Security Patrol.

  ·        Tired of seldom seeing police patrol your street or inadequately respond to crime in Bellevue? Then call police and the city manager and demand they pay more attention to Bellevue. Tell them Bellevue needs more patrols, faster response to calls and timely information about crime incidents in our neighborhood. Tell them WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD. The numbers:

Lt. L.G. Bennett, Third Precinct, 780-6211
Calvin Jamison, City Manager, 646-7000  

It’s time we put an end to crime in Bellevue. Get involved today.

  Bellevue Civic Association, January 2000

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Last updated 02/24/02
Please send questions or comments to John Butcher