Spurred in part by recent events, Vernondale residents gathered Tuesday night to continue efforts toward getting their Neighborhood Watch program fully up and running.

     Approximately 35 residents from the southern Ward Four community attended the meeting at the Jimmy Furlow Senior Citizen Center. Sharing information about suspicious activity and what to do when it is spotted were main focal points of last night’s discussion.

     “That’s what it’s all about, sharing information so everyone knows what’s going on,” said Bob Naeger, a Watch street captain who led last night’s discussion.

     Participants talked about utilization of Facebook, including notification via a new Vernondale Neighborhood Watch group on the social network site; email; texting and phone calls as means of quickly sharing information. Caution was also cited as residents were urged to make sure that shared information is factual.

     “The last thing we want to do is scare everybody with false information,” Naeger said.

     Tuesday night’s meeting followed a late July incident on Kraner Lane in which some female family members were walking when they were approached by a van whose driver started asking some suspicious questions. The van left after the family reached a nearby residence.

     Police Chief Pap Henderson, who was in attendance last night, said authorities did not think the van’s driver was from Brookhaven. He said there was no effort by the driver to get out of the vehicle during the incident.

     Last night’s discussion touched on the Kraner Lane case and some other incidents. One involved a missing bicycle that was later found and determined not to have been stolen and a couple of cases that were not reported to the police.

     Residents were reminded several times to call the police first before sending out information through Watch channels.

     “Call the police and let them come out and do their jobs,” Naeger said.

     Henderson emphasized that residents are not bothering the police department when they call. The chief said patrols are set up to have all areas of the city well covered and that officers can respond in a matter of minutes.

     “We’re already out there,” Henderson said. “We’ll face the danger if there’s any danger to be faced.”

     The issue of transient vendors, including a man going door-to-door selling a home security system recently, was also brought up last night.

     Former City Tax Collector Pat Duckworth said transient vendors are supposed to have a permit from the city. And Henderson mentioned an ordinance aldermen passed to prohibit transient vendors from being out after dark, usually around 7 p.m. in the summer and 5 p.m. in the winter months.

     The Vernondale Neighborhood Watch is one of a couple being formed in the Ward Four area. One for the Church and Jackson Street area was mentioned last night.

     Naeger said the Vernondale group, including Alderman at Large Karen Sullivan, has been working with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, which oversees the Neighborhood Watch program, since the late winter. Residents agreed to have quarterly meetings, with the next one planned before the end of the year.