The prevention of crime – particularly crime involving residential neighborhoods – is a responsibility that must be shared equally by law enforcement and private citizens.The fact is, the impact on crime prevention by law enforcement alone is minimal when compared with the power of private citizens working with law enforcement and with each other.NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH is based on this concept of cooperation, and nationwide statistics prove that it works.When citizens take positive stops to secure their own property and neighbors learn how to report suspicious activity around their homes, burglary and related offenses decrease dramatically.
Below are descriptions of the different roles in the Neighborhood Watch program.
The Coordinator's job is crucial to the success of your program.This may be just the right job for a retiree or other individual who has extra time at home.This person's responsibilities may include:
Expanding the program and maintaining a current list of participants and neighborhood residents, including names, addresses, home and work telephone numbers, and vehicle descriptions;
Acting as liaison between WATCH members, law enforcement officers, civic groups, zone captains, and block captains;
Arranging neighborhood crime prevention training programs;
Obtaining and distributing crime prevention materials, such as stickers and signs;
Involving others to develop specific crime prevention projects;
The Zone Captain
The Village will be split up into several Zones to help coordinate the Neighborhood Watch Program. One Zone Captain will be designated for each Zone. Depending on intrest in the program a Zone Captain may also be a Block Captain. The Zone Captain's responsibilities may include:
Acting as liaison between Block Captains and the Coordinator;
Coordinating the Block Captain's in their Zones
Visiting and inviting new residents to join NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH; notifying them of meetings and training sessions
The Block Captain
Block captains should be designated for every 10-15 houses, and they should be directly involved with their immediate neighbors.The block captain's responsibilities may include:
Acting as liaison between block residents and the Zone Captain;
Establishing a "telephone chain" by compiling and distributing a current list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of block participants;
Visiting and inviting new residents to join NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH; notifying them of meetings and training sessions;
Contacting each neighbor as often as possible to discuss possible crime problems, needs for assistance, and suggestions for program improvement.