Category: GP Police - page 2

School Starting: A reminder from GPPD

Back to School!

As summer draws to a close, back-to-school season is in full effect. Safety should be a priority for every family as children return to the classrooms! Check out these simple driving safety tips before hitting the road tomorrow!

All Motorists:

• Slow Down

• Be especially careful when driving on neighborhood streets and around school zones, always expect the unexpected.

• Be alert for children walking to and from school as you back out of your driveway. Young bicyclists have a tendency to dart out of driveways without looking for traffic.

• Stop your car when you see flashing lights and a stop sign on a school bus. These indicate the bus is stopped and students are getting on or off. Do not start driving until the red lights stop flashing and the stop sign is retracted. Be aware that a child may dash across the street.

Drivers (if you drive your child to school):

• Allow yourself enough time to get to school and then to work. Leave earlier to avoid the potential “to speed” getting to your destination on time.

• Make sure that your child is in their safety seat or restrained properly when you are taking them to school. By law, every person in the vehicle must buckle up.

• Pay close attention at crosswalks. Take an extra look to be sure that no students are crossing.

• Obey all signs, safety patrol and officers in your school zone. They are there to make the drop-offs and pick-ups run smoothly.

• Drop children off as close to the school as possible. If possible, avoid the need for children to cross the street.

• Follow all posted speed limit signs.

Watch Your Neighborhood!

During the past week, we have had a few events which required a visit by the Grand Prairie Police:

  • an auto burglary on the East side, 2 of the 3 alleged suspects were apprehended in the act, the third seems to have gotten away.
  • another auto burglary was attempted, but the homeowner  caught them in the act and gave chase. The young man got away from him.
  • on Friday, a young man walked into our maintenance shop and walked out with a camo hunting hat valued at $80; this young man now has a felony burglary charge over a stupid hat. I am not sure if they have arrested him but they know where he lives and have photos of him off the surveillance cameras.

The GP Officer that came out for the shop burglary call told me he used to work this area (the HOA area) and that it was well know for vehicles ducking in and parking here because it is out of the way and off the main roads. These individuals that do this are more often than not up to no good and use our property to drink, smoke dope, and other activities for which they hope not to get caught doing. We have called the Police on several of these people. some ending in their arrest for possession.

The take away here is that we all need to keep a better eye on our neighborhood and those who do not belong here. We have had 5 or 6 vehicles in the past few months that the Police came to check out; some were innocent, others had drugs in the car and were hauled off.  Don’t be afraid to call the GP Police non-emergency number to report suspicious vehicles, people or activity. That number is (972) 237-8700

We can reduce crime within the HOA by reporting suspicious people and vehicles.