Neighborhood Watch Program

Do YOU Know

      Your Neighbors?

               Do They Know You?

Did you know the Neighborhood Watch Program has been in effect for over thirty years in towns, cities, and rural areas across the country?  Do you realize how invaluable your eyes and ears can be to your neighbor?  Neighborhood Watch is a program of neighbors watching out for one another and reporting suspicious activity to police.  It’s based on the concept of cooperation between law enforcement, city officials and residents.  By taking an active role in the protection of their homes and families, residents are better able to discourage criminal activity and keep their neighborhoods safe.

The ABCs of Neighborhood Watch

• Any community resident can join — young and old, single or married, renter or home owner.
• A few concerned residents with assistance from their local police department’s Crime Prevention Unit can easily organize a Watch.
• Members learn how to make their homes more secure, watch out for each other and the neighborhood, and report activities that raise their suspicions to the police.
• You can form a Watch group around any geographical unit such as a block, apartment complex, park, business area, or public housing complex.
• Watch groups are not vigilantes. They are simply extra eyes and ears for reporting crime and helping neighbors.

 

Getting Organized

When a group decides to form a Neighborhood Watch, they:

• Should contact their local police department’s Crime Prevention Unit for help with training members in home security, reporting methods and how to gather information on local crime patterns.
• Select a coordinator and block captains who are responsible for organizing meetings and relaying information to members. Neighborhood Watch meetings can be held in schools, churches or homes.
• Recruit members, contacts new residents and make an effort to involve as many residents as possible.
• Work with the Crime Prevention Unit to purchase and install Neighborhood Watch signs.

 

Neighbors look for…

• Someone looking into windows and parked cars.
• Unusual noises.
• Property being taken out of closed businesses or houses where no one is at home.
• Vehicles moving slowly with no apparent destination, passing by numerous times, or driving without lights.
• Anyone being forced into a vehicle.
• A stranger sitting in a car or stopping to talk to a child.
• Abandoned cars.
• Strangers running through private yards or alleyways

 

Additional Projects and Programs

Many projects within a Neighborhood Watch program contribute to its success.  An example is Citizens On Patrol.  As the name implies, Citizens on Patrol are citizens who, after being screened, background checked, and trained by local law enforcement, patrol their communities acting as “eyes and ears” for law enforcement.

 The National Neighborhood Watch Institute offers a system for property protection called Operation Identification.   The program involves marking valuables with a specific number that identifies the owner.  This assists in the retrieval of personal property as well as discourages theft.

Think About It

The Neighborhood Watch Program is one of the most effective and important anti-crime strategies in the country.  For any community that is interested in providing its citizens a safe and pleasant environment, a crime watch program is one of the least expensive ways in which to do so. 

Just think about it!  A police officer patrolling your neighborhood may not recognize a stranger in your yard, but your neighbors would. Neighbors know who you are and the type of car you drive. They may be the first to notice a burglar at your window or a strange car in your driveway.  Be a good neighbor and look out for each other!