With the streets of many major cities becoming more dangerous these days, taking these steps to starting a neighborhood watch group can help prevent crime in your neighborhood through awareness and closer relationships among neighbors.
But setting one up isn’t an easy task since, in most urban areas, neighbors tend to be quite distant in this day and age of social media.
For setting up a neighborhood watch, you need interested neighbors who are willing to keep an eye out and alert others of suspicious and potentially dangerous activity.
A neighborhood community requires time, dedication, and support from your neighbors and local law enforcement to make it work.
If you want to start a neighborhood watch in your neighborhood, here are the basic things you need to do.
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Talk With Your Fellow Neighbors
The first thing you need to do is reach out to your fellow neighbors and let them know your intention.
Reaching out to neighbors and discussing common concerns regarding crime in your area will help you determine the level of interest others in starting a neighborhood watch group.
Though it can be hard to get every neighbor involved, try to get as many in the group as possible.
Starting a neighborhood watch with as many of your neighbors as possible will increase the likelihood of success in reducing crime.
This can also be an excellent opportunity to get to know your neighbor, allowing you to make new friends.
Your group will need to appoint a block captain to coordinate these efforts as well as design a phone tree for reporting crime and suspicious activities.
Contact Your Local Law Enforcement Agency
Understand that you’re trying to set up a communal group that follows the law, not a vigilante group that takes the law into its own hands.
So your next step should be contacting and inviting your local law enforcement agents to meet with your group and figure out the details on how to work in collaboration with law enforcement.
Typically, you should provide them with a list of all the members, a schedule of the patrols, and emergency contact numbers and notify them if any members have gun licenses and own guns.
Collaborating with your local law enforcement agency is a must for the safety of both the community and the safety of the group.
Collaboration With a Legal Law Enforcement Advisor
If you want to get the best results and efficiency when creating a neighborhood watch, working with a law enforcement advisor is the best way to go.
A law enforcement advisor can teach your watch group how to identify crime patterns in the area and develop strategies to address these problems.
If there isn’t an ex-law enforcement officer in your neighborhood, ask your local police station for help.
Have Law Enforcement Train Your Watch Group
Aside from advice on forming your neighborhood watch group, you can also ask your local law enforcement agency to train the group’s members.
For example, law enforcement agents must train watch group members in terrorism awareness, emergency preparedness, and emergency response.
You can easily improve the group’s security proficiency with a little help.
You should also consult with them when considering which security system to invest in for the neighborhood.
Installing a security system is one of the easiest ways to spot crimes without stretching the group’s resources thin.
If you want to know more, here are the top 10 security systems you can consider.
Take Active Steps in Your Community
Last but not least, don’t forget to take active steps in your community to promote the neighborhood watch program.
For example, you can host a kickoff event to announce the group’s formation, layout a general outline of the group’s objectives, and encourage others to get involved in the group.
You can also consider starting a neighborhood watch newsletter, schedule times for watch members to conduct or attend citizen patrols, training, conduct emergency drills, and crime prevention exercises under observation from trained law enforcement advisors.
You can also engage with the less fortunate population of the neighborhood and help them lower crime rates in your area.
Take It Easy
Starting a neighborhood watch is comparatively easy in small towns and cities as well as rural areas since most of the people know each other.
But that doesn’t mean you cannot be Starting a Neighborhood Watch Program in urban areas.
Take the initiative, and you might be surprised at how many people respond positively.
