Neighborhood Watch

I did a search on this site using “Neighborhood Watch” and it came up empty (hard to believe). Our community is starting to get home break-ins (two in the past two weeks).

We have a Neighborhood Watch Committee and are considering setting up patrols during dark hours carrying a cell phone and a flash light. Our intent is to be non-confrontational and calling 911 to report any suspicious activity. Of course we don’t expect to be able to cover all hours.

Do any of you have any experience with this and if so are you able to supply me with any tips?

Donald,

You should be posing these questions to your P.D. community action team. Where I live the neighborhood watch captains are in close contact with the P.D. CA team for assistance with problems in the neighborhood.

Donald, that officer may no longer be part of the program.

I know our Blockwatch officer liason changes every few years.

But we have a Blockwatch.

The thing about the blockwatch is if you don't have your local police department working with you then it's pretty much pointless.

It's not Neighborhood Vigilante Posse.

It's likely the police have lost contact with your group because the meetings weren't kept up?

I'm just guessing.

Our Blockwatch group meets once a quarter with the local police department. In addition, there is a local patrolman who communicates through email once a month regarding crime stats in our area.

Again, this is less a function of the Homeowners Association than it is of the community itself, in conjunction with the police department.

Donald,

Take your concerns to you local newspaper...make lots of noise.

Thanks everyone for the info and some good links.

WE tried a neighborhood watch Phoenix, without much interest and participation. Having moved to a MUCH more rural location now, I am so happy to know that we have a very good and active neighborhood watch, albeit the old fashioned, informal kind.

One neighbor noticed a water pipe leak on another's property, and called everyone until she found one of us home who could go shut off the water. We constantly respond in the summer months to calls from any of us to rattlesnakes in among the horses, pets or kid areas. Anytime a strange car drives up the road, we will stop our work and wave at them, and watch where they go and how long they stay. If someone new parks a car at a house, a phone call quickly discovers if it's a parent, sibling, or salesman; and if it isn't, we go 'check' to see if they are lost and need directions. when someone leaves on vacation, they tell everyone so we can watch their house, water their plants, feed their stock, or just keep an eye out in case of wildfire or critters. we walk our fences and look over onto our neighbor's property, just to see if anything is broken, fallen, or in need of fixing. Then we call them and offer to help.

I can't explain the difference: I had good neighbors in Phoenix, but no interest in watching out and helping each other much. When i offered to pick up their newspapers while they were on vacation, or remove the flyers those idiots always hung on your front door knob, they looked at me like I was an alien come to steal something important. I enjoyed them as neighbors, but they never wanted to be a community. Out in the sticks, it's totally different. We have no formal program, no police support at all, but we watch together better than most places with a program.

I guess my point is, give it a try, but realize: people are people, and you might not have the success you want. If you do, great! If not, step back and just try to find a couple others like you, and watch out for each other. It's all you can do.

Thanks Anna.. it helps that I grew up in a place like i live now, but i understand that to some people, being that "neighborly" feels like a violation of their privacy, like everyone knows their business, and is constantly snooping. One person's snooping is another person's neighborly concern. Perhaps in larger urban areas, the loss of privacy makes people value what little they do have to the point they don't appreciate too much "watching" and interference by neighbors.

Hey Brian,

I hope that you are doing well. Really good advice I must say. If you are still active in your community, take a look at www.villagedefense.com I think that if you are looking for a neighborhood watch 2.0 we are it. For only $1/contact/month, I doubt you can go wrong. You'll get a 24/7 Hotline for your neighborhood, and whenever your neighbor sees something suspicious, he/she can call it in, and then a blast will go out to everyone in your neighborhood in real-time.

Let me know your thoughts,
Sharath

Hey Sharath, we already have something like that in our neighborhood, except it doesn't cost us $1/contact/month.

We call it "giving each other our phone numbers".

and it's free.