Mobilizing a community with a Neighborhood Watch program

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Abstract

Keeping neighborhoods safe and free of crime requires awareness and diligence on the part of area residents. Forming a Neighborhood Watch in collaboration with local law enforcement agencies effectively reduces crime and mobilizes communities to be a part of a larger homeland security effort. This effective practice covers the steps involved in forming and sustaining a Neighborhood Watch program, as well as how to plan and implement action, and is excerpted with permission from the Ohio Crime Prevention Association's 1996 publication, Neighborhood Watch and Community Mobilization.

Issue

Rather than learning to deal with crime and violence, citizens can become proactive. Forming a Neighborhood Watch is a great way to ensure additional security.

Action

According to the Ohio Crime Prevention Association, steps to take in the areas of planning, action, and sustainability, include the following:

Before forming a Neighborhood Watch

Find out if a Neighborhood Watch already exists where you are thinking of starting one. (If so, you and/or your program can become active in it and support its goals.)
Contact your local law enforcement agency for details and assistance. You will receive training and support from liaison officers and crime prevention specialists who are familiar with teaching citizens how to better protect themselves from criminal activity.
Seek out local associations — churches and synagogues, civic organizations, and youth and senior groups — as great resources as you begin a Watch. Use these groups for expertise and guidance and in return offer them ideas and any resources that will assist them in their community efforts.
Make a list of concerns in your neighborhood and use those as an introduction for the issues to be discussed at future Watch meetings.

Planning for a Watch meeting

Your first meeting must have a liaison officer present to help organize and train the group. Some law enforcement agencies require a liaison officer to be present at every meeting. Check with your law enforcement agency on the procedure for your area.
To get residents interested in attending the meetings you can telephone them or go door-to-door with fliers. Information on the fliers should include the meeting location, date, time, and purpose. Provide a map if the meeting place is difficult to find. Distribute the fliers at least ten days in advance so residents have enough time to plan to attend.
If possible, survey neighbors when you invite them to the first meeting to get a sense of the concerns they have, then make these issues part of the agenda of the meeting.
You can also attract residents to the first meeting with a public service announcement aired on the local radio or cable network.
Besides individuals, invite groups such as schools and businesses, churches, civic groups, and local government agencies — all of whom have an investment in the health of the community and have the potential to become active partners with Watches.
Form a community partnership by asking a local church, school, small business, or a hotel in the area if they have space for the meeting. Area businesses might show support by donating refreshments.
Consider special accommodations such as childcare, transportation, or disability accessibility.
Check the meeting room to make sure that you will have what you need for speakers and presentations (e.g., audio-visual equipment, flip chart with markers, pens, and notepads).
Distribute duties so one person isn't doing all the work. Divide big jobs into separate, smaller tasks shared by all.

During the meeting

Draft a simple agenda and give everyone a copy at the meeting.
Keep the meeting brief — 60 to 90 minutes is a good length of time.
The liaison officer will provide information on crime prevention topics, and ways to maintain an effective Neighborhood Watch. For subsequent meetings, invite guest speakers to discuss current community issues or speak on topics members are interested in, such as substance abuse or family violence.
The basic structure of a Neighborhood Watch involves a captain and members. A captain is elected by members during the first meeting and may serve for a term decided by the members. Allow captains the opportunity to serve in different roles to avoid job burnout and maximize the creativity and energy of other members.
In larger communities, there may be areas having numerous Neighborhood Watches and captains. A coordinator might be selected to oversee Watch activities for the entire area. In these communities, the coordinator holds meetings with the other captains to discuss the issues and goals of their areas, and reports to local law enforcement on the status of all the Watches.
Watch captains distribute information to members, recruit new members, provide current crime prevention information to members, update phone trees, announce and advise meetings, lead meetings, coordinate meetings with the law enforcement liaison officer, develop agendas, find guest speakers for meetings, and delegate duties.
Encourage residents to participate in the meeting and have a leader who keeps the meeting focused on the agenda and issues. An agenda will help focus on the issues raised in response to the survey. Another way to determine neighborhood concerns and get residents involved is to have each resident speak for a few minutes at the meeting to describe their specific concern. If an issue is raised that isn't on the agenda, write it down for discussion at the next meeting.
Work on only one issue at a time. Once members identify and agree on the most pressing concern, develop a strategy for that specific issue and work to resolve it first. Try to begin with smaller goals for the group before working on more complex issues. This will allow your group to experience the confidence and success to meet greater challenges later. As the group develops, and learns to work together, the more complex problems can be addressed.
Create a contact list that will help members stay in touch and can be used to create a phone tree.
Before the close of the first meeting, create an action plan and decide who will be responsible for completing necessary tasks.
Schedule meetings once a month and try and hold them on the same day each month, for example the third Tuesday or the first Wednesday. This will help increase attendance because it makes it easier for members to plan ahead.
Implement formal policies and procedures for maintaining the Neighborhood Watch. These can be simple bylaws or a more formal structure including a constitution and amendments. Written policies might include history of the Watch; a form of identification for members to use when they report suspicious activity; a policy stating that members do not become involved in physical contact or confrontation with criminal suspects; the leadership the Watch will have; a method for keeping track of money and other resources; a limit on the number of duties any one person will have; a process for calling and running meetings; a problem- solving method members may use to identify and address neighborhood issues; and a way to recognize the success of members and the team.

Take action in the neighborhood

Watch members attend meetings; work with other members on common goals; report suspicious and criminal activity; look after residences when neighbors are away; practice safety and security measures at home and work; support the captain in accomplishing goals; and recruit new members.
With the help of the law enforcement liaison officer, identify key individuals and organizations in the community that may be potential partners in the problem solving process. Law enforcement, public agencies and offices, religious, civic, nonprofit organizations, local government, and other residents are all potential partners who can help problem solve and meet goals.
When faced with certain issues, the help of an experienced individual or agency who has expertise in dealing with that particular problem is invaluable. Your group might also want the assistance of a trained community organizer for an event or an initiative. Local, state, and federal agencies can provide information and guidance for some of the specific problems encountered in your community.
After identifying concerns, attempt to address the underlying causes of the problem.
Create a simple and clear strategy that best fits the problem.
Identify, don't ignore, obstacles as you work toward a solution.
Recognize resources, and then contact local businesses or individuals that would be willing to help fund a community effort. Donations may be money or in-kind contributions. For long-term projects explore local, state, or federal agencies for grant money.
Act in collaboration with partners and resources to maximize the effectiveness of your strategy.
Evaluate the results of actions by reviewing what happened and whether the action was effective in solving the problem. As a group, evaluate and celebrate successes, then move ahead to new issues and goals.
Local law enforcement permits Watch signs to be posted in areas that have shown progress in forming and maintaining Watches over a period of time. Guidelines may vary but usually include requirements that meetings are held at least once every two months; a set of bylaws has been adopted; a list of members and their telephone numbers is kept constant; members participate in home security surveys; and a percentage of residents in the designated area participate in some way in Watch activities.

Sustain the program

If a Watch program is very successful at reducing crime, it may become difficult to keep members involved since they may feel there is less to be concerned about. But crime prevention is an ongoing task. Therefore:

Constantly recruit new members to strengthen the Watch and accomplish community goals
Focus beyond your neighborhood and into the community.
Turn Neighborhood Watch activities into community-wide efforts to discover concerns and set new goals.
For future media releases ask members if anyone is interested in covering media issues. The media should be considered an essential partner in community mobilization. Neighborhood Watches grow and gain strength when more individuals know they exist and the good they are doing in an area.
Think beyond fliers to increase the effectiveness of a media campaign. Some possibilities include radio and local cable stations; Watch newsletters; park benches and billboards; local newspapers; bumper stickers; apartment newsletters; t-shirts and buttons; public transportation bulletin boards; church bulletins; school newspapers; grocery store bulletin boards; Internet; library event boards; university campus posters, banners, and lunchroom bulletin boards.

Context

Neighborhood Watches are one of the original foundations of community policing and are often referred to as the eyes and ears of law enforcement. Areas are typically defined geographically, but they can also be created based on a common interest shared by members. Whatever has inspired the Watch, it is important for members to clearly define the area they will observe. Neighborhood Watch areas could include office buildings, senior housing, housing complexes, condominiums, single homes, apartment complexes, hospitals, local business districts, mobile home parks, schools, local parks, and farms. A Neighborhood Watch usually requires at least a 50 percent commitment on the part of residents in the defined area to be recognized by law enforcement.

The Ohio Crime Prevention Association (OCPA) is a nonprofit membership organization that works to prevent crime and criminal opportunity through the state of Ohio. OCPA publishes books, program material, and information on a variety of crime prevention and community policing topics and offers training and technical assistance, and is the state focus for community crime prevention activities.

Citation

Neighborhood Watch and Community Mobilization. The Ohio Crime Prevention Association, 1996.

Outcome

According to the National Crime Prevention Council, a Neighborhood Watch is one of the most effective and least costly ways to prevent crime and reduce fear. Neighborhood Watch fights the isolation that crime both creates and feeds upon. It forges bonds among area residents, helps reduce burglaries and robberies, and improves relations between police and the communities they serve.

Posted On

November 25, 2002

For More Information

Mark Rospert

Ohio Crime Prevention Association

Executive Director

53 North Union Street

Delaware, OH 43015

Phone: (740) 369-6644

Fax: (740)369-6646

Website: http://www.ocpa-oh.org/

Email: mrospert@ohiocrimeprevention.org

Resources

From The Resource Center library:

Neighborhood Watch and Community Mobilization
Item number: M0575

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Keywords:

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Public safety