Crime Prevention

Criminals don’t take a holiday or get a day off. One must always remember that you can be the next victim.  Preventing crime is often simple as realizing that it can happen to you and taking basic precautions to prevent it.

Advantages to Neighborhood Watch

• It’s a proactive step. It helps to keep you from becoming a victim
• Protects people when they are at home
• Protects property when they are away
• Helps keep insurance rates down
• Keeps neighborhoods safer for everyone

How to Start

• Form a small group
• Discuss areas of interest or concern
• Discuss needs
• Discuss level of interest
• Partner with police for training, forms, supplies and more
• Contact as many neighbors as possible
• Schedule a meeting
• Draw a map of the neighborhood
• Develop a phone tree
• Develop an email notification tree
• Elect a coordinator and block captains

Keep Up Interest

• Develop interesting training opportunities
• Meet frequently, but not too frequently
• Learn to recognize suspicious persons or activity
• Learn what information is needed by law enforcement
• Learn how to properly report the information to responders
• Schedule free home insurance inspections
• Have pot-luck socials
• Have ice cream or barbecue socials
• Communicate with one another and develop an “Operation Identification” program
• Have a block garage sale
• Have a block clean-up
• Develop a walking or exercise group
• Have a “unwanted goods” exchange
• Set up a child card co-op
• Use your imagination

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