Crime Prevention Unit
| The ABCs of Neighborhood
Watch |
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Any community resident
can join -- young and old, single and married, renter and home owner.
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A few concerned
residents, a community organization, or a law enforcement agency can spearhead
the effort to organize a Watch.
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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 or sheriff's
office.
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You can form a Watch
group around any geographical unit: a block, apartment, park, business area,
public housing complex, office, marina.
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Watch groups are not
vigilantes. They are extra eyes and ears for reporting crime and helping
neighbors. Neighborhood Watch helps build pride and serves as a springboard for
efforts that address community concerns such as recreation for youth, child
care, and affordable
housing.
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Getting
Organized
| Forming a Neighborhood Watch is a challenge. Here
are a few tips to get your group started. |
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Contact the police
department or local crime prevention organization for help in training members
in home security and reporting skills and for information on local crime
patterns.
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Select a coordinator and
block captains who are responsible for organizing meetings and relaying
information to members.
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Recruit members, keeping
up-to-date on new residents and making special efforts to involve the elderly,
working parents, and young people.
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Work with local
government or law enforcement to put up Neighborhood Watch signs, usually after
at least 50 percent of all households are enrolled.
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| Neighbors Look
For... |
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Someone screaming or
shouting for help
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Someone looking into
windows and parked cars
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Unusual noises
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Property being taken out
of closed businesses or houses where no one is at home
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Cars, vans, or trucks
moving slowly with no apparent destination, or without lights
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Anyone being forced into
a vehicle
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A stranger sitting in a
car or stopping to talk to a child
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Abandoned cars
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Report these incidents to the police or sheriff's
department.
Talk with your neighbors about the problem.
| How to Report |
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Give your name and
address.
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Briefly describe the
event -- what happened, when, where, and who was involved.
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Describe the suspect:
sex, race, age, height, weight, hair color, clothing, distinctive
characteristics such as beard, mustache, scars, or accent.
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Describe the vehicle if
one was involved: color, make, model, year, license plate, and special features
such as stickers, dents, or decals.
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Staying Alive!
It's an unfortunate fact that when a neighborhood
crime crisis goes away, so does enthusiasm for Neighborhood Watch. Work to keep
your Watch group a vital force for community well-being.
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Organize regular meetings
that focus on current issues such as drug abuse, bias-motivated violence, crime
in schools, child care before and after school, recreational activities for
young people, and victim services.
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Organize community
patrols to walk around streets or apartment complexes and alert police to crime
and suspicious activities and identify problems needing attention. People in
cars with cellular phones or CB radios can patrol.
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Adopt a park or school
playground. Pick up litter, repair broken equipment, paint over graffiti.
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Work with local building
code officials to require dead bolt locks, smoke alarms, and other safety
devices in new and existing homes and commercial buildings. Work with parent
groups and schools to start a McGruff House or other block
parent program (to help children in emergency situations.)
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Publish a newsletter that
gives prevention tips and local crime news, recognizes residents of all ages who
have made a difference, and highlights community events.
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Don't forget social
events that give neighbors a chance to know each other -- a block party, potluck
dinner, volleyball or softball game, picnic.
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