Dog walkers look to scoop potential crimes

When La Cañada resident Scarlette Chapman takes her West Highland White Terriers, Ozzie and Livvie, on their twice-daily walks, she keeps one eye on them and the other on the daily happenings in and around her Paradise Canyon neighborhood.

If she sees a pile of newspapers or trash cans seeming to signal a neighbor’s prolonged absence, Chapman moves them out of view. And she carries her cellphone with her just in case she needs to snap photos of any questionable vehicles that, in a worst-case scenario, might aid authorities in an investigation.

“I’m not trying to spy on anybody; it’s just being a good neighbor,” Chapman said during a recent walk with husband Bruce. “Everybody has a pattern, (and) we all have routines, so if something is out of the ordinary, we’ll notice it.”

In an effort to get more feet on the ground — in multiples of four, that is — a virtual neighborhood watch group is aiming to make best use of resident dog walkers like the Chapmans through an education campaign on Facebook.

“LCF Dog Walker Watch Group” offers tips for turning fun walks with Fido into fact-finding missions that could help prevent thefts, residential burglaries and suspicious activities on city streets. It also lets members share news of wildlife sightings or crimes in their neighborhoods.

Cydney Motia, who started the group in May, said she hoped to create another way for people to keep a watchful eye beyond their own streets and reach out to those who may not have the time to start their own formal neighborhood watch groups.

“Dog walkers go further than their own block. They’re really out there,” Motia said. “And we have so many dog walkers in town, I thought this really might work.”

Motia’s dog Tucker, a rescue of indeterminate age and breed, prefers to do his business in the great outdoors, so the family takes him out up to five times a day. To keep Tucker interested, they employ different routes, and cover a wide ground.

Along the way, they listen for strange sounds, or things that seem out of the ordinary, such as loiterers or people walking streets and peering into windows of nearby cars or homes. When Motia thinks of new tips, she posts them to the group.

Bruce Chapman, who teams up with Scarlette, Livvie and Ozzie for evening walks, says he enjoys the casual take on neighborhood policing and finds the tips Motia and others post provide good food for thought.

“On the Facebook page, people post what they’re seeing, what’s going on,” he said, mentioning a virtual doorbell responder that lets homeowners talk to visitors remotely using their cellphones. “And (Cydney) gives telephone numbers to call if you see something.”

Motia says it’s part of an effort to get people watching beyond their own windows.

“Even if it’s not my block, I still care, and I’m still on the lookout,” she adds.