Cannon Bridge Road Crime Watch members and concerned residents will take to the streets from 8-11 a.m. this Saturday in a neighborhood cleanup that will include the areas between Albemarle and the Fish Hatchery.

“Litter off our roads, trash off our streets” is the group’s motto.

“This is much more than just a cleanup; it’s a community unity meeting,” said Thomas Kinsey, one of the original founders of the Cannon Bridge Road Crime Watch and a proud resident of the area.

Kinsey says he’s proud the area’s Crime Watch group has grown since its beginning two years ago and hopes the numbers of concerned residents and participants will continue to increase.

“We have had some bad instances that have happened around here, and that made the news. It seems like the good things don’t always get the publicity that the bad things do, and we want the people to know that there are a lot of good people in the Cannon Bridge Road area and that there are good things happening out here,” Kinsey said.

Residents of Cannon Bridge Road for more than 30 years, Kinsey and his wife, Carolyn, had become accustomed to living in a neighborhood where people sat out on porches to greet one another and where screen doors were always open to passersby A place where children rode their bikes up and down the quiet streets and smiling people took strolls at all times of the day.

Over the years the population grew, but there weren’t as many children playing in their yards or adults taking leisurely walks. More and more residents were beginning to stay inside their homes with the doors locked, Kinsey said.

“We want to make the area where we live a better place. People shouldn’t have to be afraid to live where they live. We want Mrs. Black to be able to walk around the block and her grandchild to be able to ride his bike without being intimidated,” Kinsey said, adding that the presence of gang graffiti and violence is what prompted the beginning of the neighborhood Crime Watch group. The Crime Watch meetings are at 7 p.m. on the last Tuesday of each month at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club.

Kinsey said before the group was organized, several “For Sale” signs had appeared in the yards of residents who were ready to sell their properties. After the Crime Watch meetings began and the community banded together, some of those same residents decided to stand up for the places they had lived for so long and removed the “For Sale” signs, he said.

“A few can’t do it alone,” Carolyn Kinsey said. “We’d like to have a good show of people Saturday to let everyone know that they are concerned about their neighborhood.

“People seem to be excited about the event,” area resident and Crime Watch member Barbara Elliott said. She said the group is trying to recruit more members to continue efforts to make their neighborhoods as crime free as possible.

Thomas Kinsey said the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office has been very supportive of the efforts of the residents who are striving to make a difference in their community.

OCSO Deputy Jared Kittrell, on behalf of the department, said, “The Sheriff’s Office is here to help in any way that is needed to bring safety back to the community. This event is to bring the community together and to support the Crime Watch.”

Elliott added, “Police officers are more visible in the area, and citizens are more conscious of watching out for their neighbors.”

“This is a great neighborhood, and we want people to know that it’s a great neighborhood,” she said, noting that Crime Watch has made a big impact on how her neighbors feel.

“We want to get more people involved from Hidden Acres Mobile Home and Housing Development, from Green Acres and from Hatchery Hill,” Kinsey said. “We want to start a lighting district from Glover Street to the Fish Hatchery down the Cannon Bridge Road and from Riley Road and Cordova Road to Wesley Grove.”

He said DPU has the maps and is in the process of researching costs for the special tax district. Meanwhile, Kinsey is asking residents to sign a petition so that the issue can progress to a referendum that can be voted on in the near future.

“I’m tired of being told it can’t be done, even before people try,” he said.

T&D Correspondent Donna L. Holman can be reached by e-mail at ladyflyer7@msn.com.

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