What is Neighborhood Watch?

Neighborhood Watch is a crime prevention program that stresses education and common sense.  It teaches citizens how to help themselves by identifying and reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.  In addition, it provides citizens with the opportunity to make their neighborhoods safer and improve the quality of life.  Neighborhood Watch groups typically focus on observation and awareness as a means of preventing crime and employ strategies that range from simply promoting social interaction and "watching out for each other" to active patrols by groups of citizens.  Community members only serve as the extra “eyes and ears” and should report their observations of suspicious activities to their local law enforcement.  Trained law enforcement should be the only ones ever to take action; citizens should never try to take action on those observations.

Most neighborhood crime prevention groups are organized around a block or a neighborhood and are started with assistance from a law enforcement agency.  Volunteers who donate their time and resources are typically at the center of such programs, since many do not have a formal budget or source of funding.  Most Neighborhood Watches are located in areas that contain high percentages of single-family homes, little or no commercial establishments, and residents who have lived at their current address for more than five years.  Many programs use street signs to show the presence of the program to potentially deter any would-be criminals.

Today's Neighborhood Watch Program is an effective means of crime control and neighborhood cohesiveness.  While not all of the programs in place today go by the same name, they all accomplish the same goal:  to bring community members together to fight crime.  Neighborhood is the key to maintaining successful relationships.

For more information on starting a Neighborhood Watch Program, contact Lt Andrew Copeland by clicking on his name.  For information on the program itself, click here .