After a string of violence in one Nashville community, one woman has created an online space for neighbors to keep each other safe.
PERCY PRIEST LAKE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After a string of violence in one Nashville community, one woman has created an online space for neighbors to keep each other safe.
Michele Vetter, a resident of the Percy Priest Lake area for the past 38 years, launched a website called the “Priest Lake Peninsula Neighborhood Network” and a Facebook group aimed at protecting and preserving the community.
The website and Facebook group have come in the wake of several shootings in the area.
“To lose your child, especially through an unmitigated act of violence, it’s too close to home,” Vetter, president of the Priest Lake Peninsula Neighborhood Network, told News 2.
One of the most recent shootings happened in Smith Park on Saturday, killing a 15-year-old girl. In September, a 17-year-old was injured in a shooting at a local gas station. A couple days prior, a family dog was shot and killed in a road rage incident.
“Criminals are not dumb,” Vetter said. “They know the condition that our law enforcement officers are in, and they capitalize on that.”
“[Law enforcement] can only do so much,” Vetter expressed. “They’;re understaffed; they’re underpaid; they lack resources. They can’t be everywhere all at once.”
Vetter said that established neighborhood watch groups could help law enforcement by keeping eyes and ears on the community at all times. She started creating a neighborhood watch group by talking with her neighbors.
“I’m a big believer that solutions begin in your own backyard,” Vetter said.
She added that the first step to combat crime in the area is to develop conversations with your neighbors, emphasizing that working together is what makes neighborhood watches successful.
“If you see something suspicious, if you are concerned, and you are on my block, you can call me up,” Vetter explained. “Then, there are steps that the block captain takes as far as being able to ascertain the problem and what needs to be escalated.”
So far, Vetter said that they have established the beginning of a neighborhood watch. However, she hopes the future of the Percy Priest Lake neighborhood watch will encourage surrounding communities to get involved.
“We will develop a successful blueprint that other neighborhoods can use to adapt to their specific communities,” Vetter said.