Five-Step Plan to a Successful Program

This section covers four areas: Initial program interest Program Overview Planning the program Participation & Support

1. Gaining Interest

The first thing you should do is to talk to your neighbors. Find out how they feel about having a watch program on your street. Chances are, they're going to be all for it. A majority of residents need to be interested in having the program to make and keep it a success. If they are unfamiliar with the Neighborhood Watch program, be prepared to give them some basic information about the program.

Listed below is a general overview of the Neighborhood Watch program:

2. Neighborhood Watch Program - Overview

The Neighborhood Watch Program is a successful effort that has been in effect for over thirty years in towns, cities and rural areas across the country. Based on the concept of cooperation, neighborhood watch programs bring together law enforcement, city officials and residents and ask them to work together to provide protection for their homes and communities. Crimes such as burglary, vandalism and mischief threaten every member of each community and crime watch efforts such as The Neighborhood Watch Program help discourage this type of activity. Supported by the National Sheriff’s Association since 1972, the Neighborhood Watch Program is helping the public eradicate residential crime in their neighborhoods.

Also called Crime Watch, Block Watch, or Community Watch, the program’s success is based on the commitment of the public and their local police department to work together to observe, report and dissuade crime in their communities. Residents not only take care of their own homes and businesses, but also those of their neighbors. By taking an active role in the protection of their families and possessions, residents are better able to discourage criminal activity and keep their neighborhoods safe.

There are thousands of neighborhood watch programs across the United States in which citizens work together to make their homes and communities less inviting targets for crime. The program is considered by many to be one of the most successful ways in which the members of various communities can help one another to reduce residential crime. Active participation among the public and local law enforcement is an essential element in a successful neighborhood watch program.

What this program is not:

1. This is not a Home Owner's Association.
   Though many Neighborhood Watch programs coincide within a Home Owner's Association, there are many differences between the two. The most predominant difference being that participation in the program is completely voluntary. Our programs and goals are designed to help prevent crime within the community, not to administer by-laws and regulations for home owners.
   
   
2. This is not a vigilante group.
   The Neighborhood Watch Program is a non-intervention crime-watch and Law Enforcement assistance program that involves the reduction of criminal opportunity through voluntary citizen participation in crime prevention measures. When crimes are observed, they are immediately reported to the appropriate Law Enforcement agency.

There are several reasons to have a neighborhood watch in your area.

You may be fed up with the increase of criminal activity in your community.

You may want to take preventative steps before criminal activity increases.

You may just want to get to know your neighbors and have a sense of community involvement.

You may have been approached by a neighbor about having a watch program.

Regardless of the initial reasons, the fact remains that criminal activity decreases dramatically in neighborhoods that develop a Watch program. Here are some of the many reasons why:

Neighbors will have more of a sense of unity.

They will be more willing to help neighbors that they know or have met.

They will feel more comfortable in becoming involved in their community.

They will have a better understanding of what they can do to help deter crime.

3. Planning the program

Once you have two or three of your neighbors in agreement, it is time to make preparations for starting up the Watch program. You may want to decide among yourselves who would be willing to take the lead in finding out more information and to get the ball rolling, so to speak.

You should make every effort to find out more about the Neighborhood Watch program. The more knowledge you have concerning the Watch program and how it works, the easier it will be to sell the program to the other neighbors on your street.

Neighborhood Watch Programs typically involve the following activities:

• Neighbors getting to know one another and working in a program of mutual assistance.
• Training to assist neighbors in recognizing and reporting suspicious activities in their neighborhoods.
• Implementation of crime prevention programs, such as:
  • Operation Identification - recording serial numbers from your possessions,
  • Light the Night - increasing neighborhood lighting and improving night-time safety, and
  • Security Inspections - improving the security measures in neighborhood homes.

Neighborhood Watch Characteristics:

• Any community resident can join -- young and old, single and married, renter and home owner.
• A few concerned residents, a community organization, or a law enforcement agency can spearhead the effort to 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 or sheriff's office.
• You can form a Watch group around any geographical unit: a block, apartment, park, business area, public housing complex, office, and marina.
• 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.

Getting Organized:

Forming a Neighborhood Watch can be a challenge. Here are a few tips to get your group started.

• Contact the Brevard County Sheriffs Office at 264-5100 or your Watch Coordinator for help in organizing a Neighborhood Watch. They will be able to assist in getting you the necessary training in home security and reporting skills as well as provide information on local crime patterns.
• Select a coordinator and block captains who are responsible for organizing meetings and relaying information to members.
• Recruit members, keeping up-to-date on new residents and making special efforts to involve the elderly, working parents, and young people.
• Work with local government and law enforcement to put up Neighborhood Watch signs, usually after at least 50 percent of all households are enrolled.

Neighborhood Watch Activities

• Distribute anti-crime information to citizens within your neighborhood or community regarding how to prevent and deter crime.
• Hold public meetings with your local law enforcement agency about crime in the community and what can be done about it.
• Conduct home security surveys to help detect and prevent their fellow citizens' homes from being burglarized.
• Welcome new members to their neighborhood and encourage them to join in the Neighborhood Watch Program.
• Set up a special watch or escort for senior citizens or other potential victims.
• Provide "McGruff Houses" for young people to go to after school or in time of an emergency to avoid being hurt or mistreated.
• Develop a special "vacation watch" program, where specific attention and observation is placed on the residences that will be vacant when the occupants are on vacation.
• Contact the local newspaper and/or media for public attention regarding the crime prevention efforts in your neighborhood.
• Have an "Operation Identification" program, where citizens within the neighborhood mark their valuables with identifying markings, so they can be recovered if stolen.

The below links contain additional information about the Neighborhood Watch Program:

NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL

NATIONAL SHERIFFS ASSOCIATION

BREVARD NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM

4. Participation & Support

In order to maintain a successful Watch program, your neighbors will need to be willing to participate. Because the Watch program is a purely voluntary program, you will need several residents to volunteer some of their time and effort to making the Watch program work in your neighborhood. They need to be committed to increasing crime watch participation by working with residents, community groups, neighborhood associations and community development corporations.

• You will need the support of your local law enforcment agency to keep your Watch program a success. They can supply you with training and instructional classes dealing with home safety and crime prevention.
• You can also civic leaders and elected officials to be your advocates and mentors.
• Local businesses and organizations can help provide fliers and a newsletter, offer meeting places, and distribute crime prevention information.
• Ask an electronics store to donate cellular phones.
• Libraries can provide research materials, videos, computers, and meeting space.
• Media can aid Neighborhood Watches by publicizing recruitment drives.
• Look to volunteer centers, parent groups, and labor unions for advice on recruiting volunteers.
• Places of worship can provide meeting space and a good source of vounteers.