Our community will become a safer place to live if we all become a little nosier as neighbors.

Not to say we need to spy on those living next door, but there is significant benefit in knowing those who live around you and being aware of what goes on outside your door.

Winchester Police are asking for the public’s help to identify a man who attacked a woman jogging near College Park early Sunday morning.

Surveillance video shows a white male wearing a plain white T-shirt and tan pants.

The woman screamed and scared the attacker off, but this situation could have had a much worse outcome.

Someone had to have seen this individual and authorities believe he lives in that general area.

The takeaway here is we all must be aware of the things going on around us. Neighborhood watch programs have been tremendously successful across the country because residents look out for one another and take a vested interest in keeping the entire neighborhood safe.

Some say technology is partly to blame for disconnecting us from those who live nearby. There may be some truth to that but the biggest driving factor in disconnection is simply the fast-paced world in which we live where everyone has somewhere to go and something to do and often get caught up in their own lives.

In fact, technology can help connect neighborhoods.

There are a host of computer apps such as Next Door that take a high-tech approach to connecting neighborhoods and have become a great tool for sharing information about suspicious activity, locating lost pets, finding service providers and much more.

Overall, Winchester-Clark County is a safe place to call home but being engaged and in tune with our neighbors can go a long way toward making it even safer.