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REPORT TERRORIST ACTIVITY

The topic of discussion recently has been gang activity here in the Hill City.  With this increase in gang-related activity, it is essential that you know how to recognize this problem to report and avoid it.  The Crime Prevention Unit has developed a brochure designed to aid you in doing just this, which you can find HERE (Adobe Acrobat File).  If you see any suspicious activity, please call 847-1602, to report it to a dispatcher, or e-mail: Complaint.Desk@lynchburgva.gov.  Or in case of an emergency, call 911.

August 14, 2002:

There has been a great deal of activity around the police department lately, and we have been working feverishly to keep up.  Businesses are encouraged to attend a free training session we are offering at the Central Virginia Criminal Justice Academy on August 20th, entitled Robbery Survival, contact Spencer Wilcox for more information on this event.   National Night Out was a great success, and several new neighborhood watches are preparing to start as a result.  More information will be forthcoming soon on how YOU can help to prevent crime in your neighborhoods, and if you would like to start a neighborhood watch in your community you can contact Mrs. Cindy Kozerow at 847-1375.

July 15, 2002:

URGENT NOTICE

A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) will arrive in Lynchburg on August 3, 2002 to examine all aspects of the Lynchburg Police Department’s policy and procedures, management, operations, and support service.   As part of the assessment, agency employees and members of the community are invited to offer comments at a public information session Monday, August 5, 2002.  The session will be conducted in City Council Chambers, 900 Church Street, Lynchburg, Virginia at 6:30 P.M.

If for some reason individuals cannot attend the public information session but would still like to provide comments to the assessment team, they may do so by telephone.  The public may call 434-847-1369 on Sunday, August 4^th between the hours of 1:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M.

For The Full Text of this announcement Click Here.

June 13, 2002:

Several of you have requested direct contact with the Chief of Police via e-mail, this has been added at the top of the page.  E-mail addresses for the webmaster appear in the bottom frame on every page, as well.  All e-mail sent to this address is forwarded to the appropriate person or department.  An e-mail address list is forthcoming, and will be included soon.

March 28, 2002:

The City of Lynchburg was officially recognized as a Certified Crime Prevention Community by the Commonwealth's Department of Criminal Justice Services on Tuesday, March 26th, in a ceremony held during the Virginia Crime Prevention Association's Annual Conference.  Two of the programs described in Lynchburg's  application were recognized by Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Bob Crouch as being recommended as "Model Programs for the State."  These programs are Bizwatch, the LPD's Business Crime Prevention Program, and the City's Code Enforcement Task Force, the City's way to increase public safety by improving the quality of life for City residents.

February 20, 2002:

The Police Department has been updated completely, with all areas updated.  The Kid's Section is now working, with more neat stuff being added constantly.  You can find games, links to kid safe sites, and other cool stuff for the kids to do.  E-mail us with your ideas for new additions, or games you would like to see us put together. 

February 14, 2002: 

The Special Operations Division pages have been updated, with all of Field Operations Bureau to follow in the next few days.

January 30, 2002:

We have updated the Personnel and Training area of the site, including a flash animation.  The Command Staff pages are updated as well.

January 2, 2002:

There have been some concerns regarding the ease of reading the LPD website.  Some font styles have been changed, and backgrounds have been removed to make it easier on the eyes.   Additionally, we are adding spanish translations of some of our pages.  Pages with Spanish translations will have the following logo:

We hope you like the changes, and wish you the happiest of New Years.

December 12, 2001: Happy Holidays.

The Lynchburg Police Department has been very involved in developing the Business Watch program, locally, with more than fifty businesses already signed up, we hope to have more of you involved in the near future.

We are preparing to offer a training program entitled:

How to Manage Angry People and Defuse Hostile Situations

On January 15, 2002 from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM at the Central Virginia Criminal Justice Academy, on the 3rd floor of the Old Armory Building.  The training is free to Business Watch members.  Call 847-1375 or 847-1407 to reserve your seat today, or to join Business Watch.

November 12, 2001:

It's been a very busy month for the Lynchburg Police Department, with work on the Certified Crime Prevention Community Program completed, and a complete departmental commitment to terrorist threat reduction, using both our business watch and neighborhood watch programs.

One area that we cannot forget to comment upon is H.E.A.T. (Help Eliminate Auto Theft). This program is an excellent method for law enforcement to help recover stolen vehicles, and to catch auto theft rings, nationwide.  If you or someone you know has information concerning auto theft call 1-800-947-HEAT, for rewards up to $10,000.00.

October 12, 2001:  Security is a prime concern in light of the continuing situation.  As such, if you see any suspicious activity, or believe that any crime, or terrorist activity, is in progress, please call 911 immediately.  You can also report suspected terrorist activity to the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center.  Please, don't hesitate to call and report ANY type of crime to the Police.

In response to Attorney General John Ashcroft's call for a "National Neighborhood Watch," you can contact Mrs. Cindy Kozerow in the Crime Prevention Unit at 434-847-1375, for information on starting Neighborhood Watch in your community.

October 2, 2001: The Nigerian Advance Fee Frauds are back.  In light of the advancing situation with Afghanistan, and some of the perceived fears concerning people of Arabic descent, it is necessary to let you know that the emails from Nigeria are a common fraud, and have been around for a long time.   There is no need to fear that this is a part of the terrorist plot.  However, please do not fall for it.  Typically, in the Nigerian Advance Fee scams, an email or postal mail letter arrives telling you that the sender has frozen accounts due to a change in government in Nigeria, and that they will offer you from 10 percent to one half of the money, if you will allow them to use your bank account.  All you have to do is send them your bank account number.

Of course, once you do this your bank account is cleaned out.  For more information on Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud, go to:

The National White Collar Crime Center

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this type of crime, report it to the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center.  If you have already become a victim of this crime, please contact the U.S. Secret Service

October 1, 2001: We are currently developing portions of the site to accomodate our growing spanish-speaking population.  We would especially like to thank those who have volunteered their time and services to translate this site into Spanish.  In particular, we would like to thank Lynchburg College, Ms. Torenya Gaskins, and Dr. Sharon Robinson for the exceptional services that they are providing.   We hope to have a roll-out of this exciting new service in the near future, and we will keep you posted as the time approaches.

Also, we need to notify everyone of a change in telephone service.   The Lynchburg area is undergoing an area-code change, instead of 804 area code, we are now the 434 area code.  This should be reflected in the phone numbers on our pages, however if you notice an outdated 804 area code on our pages, please contact the webmaster so we can change it.

September 21, 2001: The Federal Government has put together a website for information concerning September 11th acts of terrorism.  This site can be reached at:

• http://www.firstgov.gov/featured/usgresponse2.html

This site offers link to all information relating to all Federal programs affected by this event.

September 14, 2001:  None of us has gone untouched by this act of war perpetrated upon the American people. All of our hearts go out to the people of New York City and all of the other victims of this atrocity.  In light of our strong feelings, many of us are ready and willing to give. Americans are giving blood, money, and their labor to assist others in need.

It is with the heaviest heart that we must warn you to beware of scam artists and fraudsters trying to take advantage of this horrific situation. Already reports have been received about websites that appear to be sending money to the American Red Cross, but are not. These sites are sending e-mail soliciting these donations. Virtually no legitimate emergency relief organization sends these requests via e-mail.  

Fraudulent telephone solicitations are also beginning to appear.  Reports have been taken today indicating that solicitors identifying themselves as being with the American Red Cross have begun to call asking for your credit card number.  As with all telephone solicitations, do not give your credit card number over the telephone, unless you initiate the phone call.  Be sure that you are donating to the organization that you think you are.

This is not to dissuade you or your organization from donating much needed assistance, however be very careful to whom you donate. Donate to your local chapters of disaster relief agencies, such as the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or the United Way, or to donate nationally, contact:

American Red Cross:  800-HELP NOW
Salvation Army:  800-SAL ARMY

Just remember, at this point, it is safer to give the money directly than to try and give over the Internet.

Finally, if you believe that you have been victimized by this type of fraud, please report it to your local police department, or in the City of Lynchburg, call: (434) 847-1614.

August 8, 2001: The new Chiefly Speaking is on-line, and discusses racial profiling.  Lots of administrative details are being fixed.  If there is anything YOU want to see, let us know.  We are working diligently to get the kid's section up and running, and are trying to get an exciting new program implemented that will help us to communicate more effectively with everyone living in Lynchburg.

June 6, 2001: The new Chiefly Speaking is on-line, it talks about Compstat and the changes that statistical modeling of crime problems can make if used in conjunction with a coordinated police effort.  The progress of Community Oriented Policing is directly effected by how effective our crime anlysis efforts are.  We are getting ready to add our Crime Analysis section to the website, and hope to include information specific to our unique neighborhoods in the near future.

May 29, 2001: We have developed our newest endeavor, www.bizwatch.org, and are completing the coding for it now.  The new program will act as a resource for local area business to receive information on crime in the City, as well as security information that will assist them in reducing loss.

In another unrelated topic, we have begun to receive a number of complaints concerning computer fraud, and on-line auction scams, we are aware of these problems, and are beginning to look into these criminal activities.   If you need to report a computer fraud, you can file a report at:

www.ifccfbi.gov

This is the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, and its resources are devoted to reducing the number of Internet frauds by alerting local authorities in involved jurisdictions nationwide.  Please file a report with them if you have been defrauded, and we will receive all pertinent information.

May 2, 2001:  The new LPD website design went live.  Lots of plans to improve the function and increase the content of the site.  Several old functions are removed for "retooling," such as the Kid's section, with plans to improve the content, add new activities and games for kids, and to provide kid's safety information from numerous trusted sources.  Additional plans include a newly revised, database driven Bizwatch program on-line, with it's own brand-new URL.  I hope you enjoy the new site design as much as I have enjoyed designing it. (S. Wilcox, Webmaster)