If you live around here, you might be signed up for the "Woodlands Alert," an email notification service of the Community Associations of The Woodlands. Their slogan is, "Information you can use." Well, you can't use the information if you are dead.Over the past year, I have received numerous alerts. However, they are invariably and grossly late. Watch out! Yesterday, there was a kidnapper on the loose! Watch Out! Last week, a bank got robbed!
The latest "alert" was the worst (text below). On Friday, there was an assault and robbery in the parking lot of The Woodlands Mall. This comes on the eve of one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. So when does the Woodlands Alert go out? On TUESDAY! Really? How helpful is this to the thousands of people who shopped over the weekend without a clue that 5 assailants were on the loose? Not very helpful at all. It's pretty bad when the newspaper beats the alert system in getting the word out by FOUR DAYS. Why didn't they just send out some of those horse mounted mall cops with a bull horn and a loud bell?
These alerts could serve a useful purpose, but timing is obviously key. An urgent alert that is sent too late really has no value and is just a waste of time and money. As The Woodlands Township begins to take on many of these responsibilities, they should seriously consider either improving this service so it's actually useful, or scrapping it entirely.
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "woodlandsalert@catw-tx.org"
To: austinstout
Sent: Tue, December 15, 2009 2:06:42 PM
Subject: WoodlandsAlert---Please do not reply to this message---
This Message is sent from WoodlandsAlert, a service of the Community Associations of The Woodlands.
Woodlands Mall Incident- Woodlands Watch Message
On December 11, 2009, two victims reported to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office that they were approached by a group of four black males and three black females as they left The Woodlands Mall at around 7:45 p.m. One victim was attacked and robbed of recently-purchased items by at least three of the suspects.
During a search inside the mall, two suspects were found and identified by the victims as participants in the assault and robbery. The other suspects have not been identified or arrested.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1.800.392.STOP (7867). Anonymous tips can also be made through the Montgomery County Crime Stoppers Web page at www.montgomerycountycrimestoppers.org .
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Detective Division can be reached at 936.760.5876.
Community Associations of The Woodlands, Neighborhood Services Department, encourages you to celebrate safely this holiday season.
While shopping:
• Stay alert and be aware of what is going on around you.
• Have your car keys out and ready before you enter the parking lot.
• Park in a well-lit space. Hide bags and gifts in the trunk.
• Avoid carrying large amounts of cash.
• Do not leave your purse unattended. Carry your purse close to your body, not dangling by the straps.
For information on The Woodlands Watch program, including information on the Vacation Watch program, contact the Community Associations’ Neighborhood Services Department at 281.210.3800. Have a safe and happy holiday!
Posts
The best thing you could do is, sign up a Google alert for "The woodlands robbery" and "The woodlands robberies". You will know as and when things happen in The Woodlands (just like I found this blog !!!)
ReplyDeleteYou are correct to point out the weaknesses of the alert. I want people to realize also how ineffective the mounted patrol is.In the Woodlands taxpayers pay more than $1.25 Million a year for a bunch of show ponies when we should be using that money for fully fledged law enforcment in a modern mode of transportation. ( Patrol Car)
ReplyDeleteI agree, what a waste of money on the ponies. If the Mall wants to contract with them for security, fine. Otherwise, the only results they are producing comes in the form of more dung.
ReplyDelete