What is the Neighborhood Crime Watch Program:
Neighborhood Crime Watch is the involvement of citizens in cooperation with their local law enforcement agency, to reduce criminal activity in their neighborhood. It consists of residents within their neighborhood recognizing any suspicious criminal or dangerous activity and reporting it immediately to their local law enforcement agency.
Why Neighborhood Crime Watch Works:
Most law enforcement agencies are limited with staffing. Your cooperation as a resident will greatly help to overcome this shortage. By the watchful eyes and ears of the citizens observing suspicious activities within their own neighborhoods. Citizens provide the benefit of having someone watching their neighborhood at all times. This lets criminals know they are being observed.
Why we need Neighborhood Crime Watch:
» A violent crime is committed every 16 seconds
» A residential burglary is committed every 9 seconds
» Increase in suspicious and criminal activity
» Most neighbors do not know each other
What are the Benefits:
Beyond preventing crime and reducing fear, Neighborhood Watch forges bonds among block residents, improves citizen-police relations, and can address other block issues and concerns like child safety, youth development, senior citizen welfare, and quality-of-life.
Direct telephone contacts to police agencies
Learn how to handle city/county ordinances and nuisance violations
You are not being asked to take personal risks, only to serve as extra "eyes and ears" and to report information on crimes and suspicious activities to the proper authorities.
What can I do to help?
To maintain a standard of safety in our neighborhood, an effort must be made by us to protect our property and discourage potential criminals. The following outlines some of the techniques successfully used by homeowners to reduce opportunities for criminals. By incorporating these ideas into your home security plan and becoming involved in our Neighborhood Watch, we will all be less likely to become the targets of criminals who prey upon residential areas.
Take the extra few moments to see that your home is crime-proof. A secure home could help prevent you or your family from becoming a victim of crime.
- Start and maintain an accurate household inventory.
- When moving into a newly purchased home, be sure to have locks re-keyed or replaced.
- Take care of your keys and keep duplicates to a minimum.
- Do not rely on a security alarm system to protect you.
- Install deadbolt locks on all exterior doors and other entrances into the house from the garage or family room.
- Exterior doors should be solid core in order to provide strength for the locking system.
- Install wide-angle viewers for exterior doors.
- While proper locks on sliding glass doors are recommended, inserting a fitted piece of wood or metal in the doors lower track improves security.
- Secure, all possible points of entry such as window-mounted air conditioners.
- Be sure to keep your garage or shed locked. A garage has provided criminals with the tools to break and enter.
- Use curtains on basement and garage windows to prevent others from shopping for goods.
- Timers on radios and lights will help give the impression someone is at home.
- Do not reveal information to unknown people on the telephone or at the door.
- Check references of people you employ to work in and around your home.
- Keep outdoor vehicles locked. Don't leave your garage opener in your vehicle overnight.
- Have adequate insurance coverage on your home and contents.
What May Be Suspicious?
You may become aware of something that is out of the ordinary that you feel is leading up to some type of criminal activity. This is your chance to prevent a crime in your neighborhood. Do not be afraid to call when you hear or observe any of the following:
- Screams or sounds of distress
- Loud or unusual noises
- Strange persons loitering around the neighbor's house while the neighbor is away
- Strange vehicles that are parked or driving in the neighborhood with no apparent reason
- A stranger carrying electronic goods, household items or similar devices
- Broken or open doors or windows
- Persons walking down the street repeatedly peering into parked cars
- A door-to-door "salesman" who tries the doorknobs on doors and peeks into windows.
- Someone checking cars, looking into car windows and trying car doors along the street or parking lot.
- Someone lurking in the darkness, in bushes or out of sight who is a stranger to the neighborhood.
When reporting suspicious or criminal activity, make certain you have a good description of the person or persons and last location or direction of travel.
Be mindful of movement in your neighborhood, especially at night hours. Someone taking that "shortcut" across your neighbor's lawn may be a burglar who just burglarized your neighbor's house.
If you observe (during any time) someone carrying an object, such as TV or some other valuable, down the street or loading it into a car (and the person is not known to you) report it promptly to police-give description, car description and license number, direction of travel, etc.
It could be perfectly innocent, or it could be a burglar leaving with the stolen goods. Many such burglaries happen right under peoples' noses.
Know your police number-keep it posted by all your telephones.
Stay informed about crime problems via the news media and attend neighborhood and other meetings of citizenry.
Check the "moving van" that is at a neighbor's home if you did not know the person was moving. It may be a bold burglar emptying someone's house. This happens more often than you think!
