Neighborhood watch is one of the most effective ways to prevent crime in your neighborhood. A neighborhood equipped with warning signs directed at intruders and multiple families watching out for each other is a lot more secure than one that has an every-man-for-himself mentality. Not to mention the community benefits of just getting to know your neighbors. But if you’re not a part of your neighborhood watch, or your neighborhood doesn’t even have one established, where do you start? Neighborhood watch is more than just staring out your front window every day waiting for a criminal to wander down your street, so here’s now to create or join a neighborhood watch.
Let’s begin with how you can start a neighborhood watch in your area according to the National Neighborhood Watch division of the National Sheriff’s Association:
Recruit as many neighbors as possible. The more eyes you have, the better. People are generally pretty open to anything that can protect their neighborhood.
Contact your local law enforcement agency and set up a meeting with them. Neighborhood watch is all about partnership, and you absolutely have to partner with local law enforcement to have an effective watch. They can let you know the best ways to enforce your watch and offer expert advice.
Talk about concerns and create an action plan. Talk with your neighbors about your top three biggest concerns, then make a plan as to how you’ll combat those things. Also, what will you do if someone does happen to witness a crime?
Create a communication plan. How will you communicate best as a group? This could be a facebook group, text chain, email chain, or whatever works for the most people.
Register your watch through your local law enforcement agency and the National Neighborhood Watch. Make sure local law enforcement know your group exists and utilize the resources offered by the National Neighborhood Watch.
Hold meetings and events. These don’t have to be weekly meetings that take up a lot of time, but make sure you keep in contact with your neighbors regularly. The National Neighborhood Watch has a lot of resources on their website to help plan meetings and events.
The National Neighborhood Watch website is also where you’ll want to go to find and join your neighborhood watch group. They have great resources on their website, and they’ll also have a database with the information you need to know about a neighborhood group that already exists.
Neighborhood watch is a great way to build community, be prepared, and reduce crime in your area. Joining a group or creating one if your area hasn’t already is just one more way you can keep yourself and your family secure.
