Community Oriented Policing Unit

Neighborhood Watch Program

The Neighborhood Watch Program is one of the most effective and least costly ways to prevent crime and reduce fear in your neighborhood. The program fights the isolation and separation that crime creates and feeds upon. It forges bonds among area residents and businesses, helps reduce burglaries and robberies, and improves relations between police and the communities they serve.

The Neighborhood Watch program is designed to educate community residents regarding their roles and responsibilities in the prevention of crime, and to encourage them to take active measures to prevent crime. The program calls upon residents to step forward and assist the police in organizing the community into a cohesive unit working toward the goal of building a safer, crime-free neighborhood. Neighborhood Watch groups discuss neighborhood crime problems with the objective of developing solutions to local problems. Officers supply crime information to neighborhood watch organizations and instruct these groups in various crime prevention techniques.

Block Captains

Within every neighborhood watch program there are positions of responsibility, which are elected by the members of the group. The first is The Neighborhood Watch Coordinator. This job is crucial for the success of the program and is best served by a retiree or a self-employed individual who spends more time at home and can keep a closer watch on the neighborhood.

The coordinator is responsible for expanding the program and handling new members. He or she is also in charge of maintaining a current list of participants and neighborhood residents, which includes names, addresses, phone numbers and vehicle descriptions. In addition, the coordinator acts as a liaison between watch members, civic groups, block captains and law enforcement officers. The coordinator is also responsible for arranging training programs that target crime prevention, obtaining and distributing materials such as neighborhood watch stickers, signs and decals and for encouraging participation in specific projects.

Another important position within any neighborhood watch program is the Block Captain. The group should designate one Block Captain for every ten to fifteen houses within the neighborhood. These individuals act as liaisons between block residents and the coordinator. They are also responsible for establishing a “telephone chain” or a current list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of block participants and distributing this list to the members of the neighborhood watch group.

The Block Captains visit and invite new residents to join the neighborhood watch program and notify them of meetings and training sessions. In addition, they are required to contact each member of the group as often as possible to discuss any problems, assistance requirements or suggestions for program improvement.

Getting Involved

Joining a neighborhood watch program is as simple as locating one in your neighborhood and attending a meeting to express your interest in becoming a member. If your community in Henry County does not have a crime watch program in effect, starting one is a relatively simple process.

Form a small planning committee with your neighbors to determine how interested your community is in forming a crime watch program of its own. If it is determined that there is ample interest to continue, decide on a place and time for the first official neighborhood watch meeting. Inform your local police or sheriff’s office of the meeting ten to fourteen days in advance. This will provide them with ample time to assign a Community Oriented Policing Officer who will attend your meeting and help you inform the members of your community about the Neighborhood Watch Program and what is required to form their own groups. In addition, the officer will be able to discuss crime statistics in the area and bring a list of local and international contacts in order to help with the organizing and maintenance of your communities program.

Hold your first neighborhood watch meeting in a place that is convenient for everyone, such as a neighborhood home, church, library or school. Design a flyer or letter of invitation and deliver one to every home in your area. Try to get each household to commit to one adult attendee in order to assess attendance. Prior to the meeting draw a large ma of the streets and residences that will be covered by the watch to show the potential members of your group. As the meeting organizer, it is your responsibility to arrive early to introduce the officer attending and to help everyone become acquainted.