neighborhood watch part 2
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Neighborhood watch part 2TRANSCRIPT
National Crime Prevention Council 2
Goal of This Presentation
To provide participants with strategies for
strengthening their Neighborhood Watch
programs and explore ways that their programs
can be connected with homeland security and
emergency preparedness
National Crime Prevention Council 3
Objectives
Learn how to maintain and strengthen a Neighborhood Watch
Learn how to expand the scope of Neighborhood Watch
Explore how Neighborhood Watch can be linked to homeland security and emergency preparedness
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Neighborhood Watch Works
Birmingham, AL: Before Neighborhood
Watch, 13 out of 15 neighborhoods had
experienced increases in burglaries. After the
program was in place, 12 of the 15 had no
burglaries.
Lakewood, CO: Burglaries dropped 77 percent
after Neighborhood Watch was implemented.
National Crime Prevention Council 5
Neighborhood Watch Works (continued)
■ Cypress, CA: Neighborhood Watch cut
burglaries by 52 percent and thefts by 45
percent. The program saved police an
estimated $79,000.
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Neighborhood Watch
Background Neighborhood Watch is a community-
based program supported by the National Sheriffs’ Association.
Since its inception in 1972, thousands of communities have created Neighborhood Watch programs.
These programs have expanded and become major assets in solving neighborhood problems.
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Example of an Expanded
Neighborhood Watch Program
The Niagara Falls Block Club Council has expanded the traditional Neighborhood Watch
activities to include increasing community awareness as well as engagement.
Home Block Club Association
Roger Spurback, President
2234 Forest Avenue Niagara Falls, NY 14301
716-285-5426 [email protected]
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Maintaining and Strengthening
Your Neighborhood Watch
Program
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Seek Help From
Other Organizations
Talk to other Neighborhood Watch groups in
the area.
Talk with local PTAs, tenants’ groups,
community service organizations, social clubs,
faith groups, public and mental health
associations, taxpayers’ groups, and
homeowners’ associations for help and ideas in
sustaining and preserving activities.
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Community Assessments
Ask your local police department or sheriff’s
office for a map of your area. You can use
this to define the boundaries of your
Neighborhood Watch program and to map
crime.
Ask your local police department for
statistics on crime in your community and
whether it has done any crime mapping or
crime analysis of your neighborhood. If so,
ask to see the results.
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Consider a
Neighborhood Assessment A neighborhood assessment can
provide a “road map” that can be used to address problems and community needs.
A neighborhood assessment can also highlight other organizations—local government, local civic groups, etc.—that might need to be involved.
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Community Assessments
Collect crime data from police and residents.
• What types of crimes have been reported?
• What details are available about these crimes?
• Do patterns of crime show up?
• Are there specific “hot spots” where multiple incidents have occurred?
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Community Assessments (continued)
What have residents noticed in general about
the community?
What types of activities have residents
noticed? Which activities are positive, which
are negative?
What can be said about activities of concern?
Where, when (what time of day or week)?
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Community Assessments (continued)
Conduct a survey of residents.
• Ask about their observations of the neighborhood.
• Ask about their concerns and things they want to see happen.
Have responses sent anonymously to one person who will compile the responses.
Report on the responses at the next meeting. Identify those actions for which solutions are apparent and those that need investigating. Be sure someone takes notes.
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Crime Prevention Through
Environmental Design
Crime Prevention Through Environmental
Design (CPTED) is a way of looking at
changing the environment to increase
prevention factors and decrease crime
problems.
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CPTED Principles
CPTED seeks to strengthen
• Natural surveillance
• Access management
• Territoriality
• Physical maintenance
• Order maintenance
• Activity support
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Crime Prevention Through
Environmental Design (continued)
Local law enforcement agencies frequently have
officers on staff who have been trained in
CPTED principles. Seek the help of such an
officer to coordinate a neighborhood review.
CPTED seeks to identify problems and strengths
by asking questions such as • Does this make me feel safe/unsafe? Does it look like someone
cares about this space?
• What make me feel safer in this space? What would tell me that
someone is taking care of it?
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Safe or Unsafe:
Residential Street
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Safe or Unsafe:
Open Space
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Strategies To Keep Your
Neighborhood Watch
Strong
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A Lasting Neighborhood Watch
Often communities start Neighborhood Watches because of a dramatic crime or increase in crime. When the problem subsides or is forgotten, the program loses momentum.
Adopt a long-term attitude from the start—your aims are to empower people to prevent crime, to forge bonds among residents and law enforcement, and to build a base for broader community improvement.
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Example of Neighborhood Watch That Works Closely
With the Sheriff’s Department
Hinds County, MS, has 240
Neighborhood Watches in six towns
within its 875 square miles and each
must meet specific requirements set
forth by the Sheriff’s Department.
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A Lasting Neighborhood Watch (continued)
Spell out the roles of the group. Consider
forming a formal association with bylaws
and officers.
Decentralize planning and work. Establish
committees and delegate tasks.
Keep all members informed via a mix of
personal contact and newsletters.
Plan for and train new leaders.
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A Lasting Neighborhood Watch (continued)
Strike a balance between work and fun.
Address problems but also have fun as
neighbors.
Involve the entire community.
Organize meetings that focus on current
issues pertaining to children, youth,
adults, seniors, and public and private
property.
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A Lasting Neighborhood Watch (continued)
Consider organizing citizen patrols to walk or drive around and alert police to crime and suspicious activity. Talk to local law enforcement about how patrols could work in your area.
If you do implement patrols, share patrol duties and consult regularly with law enforcement, who should help train patrols.
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Examples of Citizen Patrol Groups
The San Antonio, TX, Cellular on Patrol
Program engages more than 600 trained
volunteers who report possible crimes to
police.
Baltimore County, MD, has more than 115
Citizens on Patrol groups—trained individuals
who patrol by car in their neighborhoods and
report concerns or crimes to the police.
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Examples of Citizen Patrol Groups (continued)
The McGruff® Truck Program, in which drivers call for help on behalf of children in distress, is another adaptation of mobilizing the “watch out for each other” concept. Lost children have been returned to their parents; others have been saved from closed and overheated cars or even rescued from abusive situations, thanks to these trained and vetted drivers of more than 16,000 corporate and municipal trucks in 24 states.
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A Lasting Neighborhood Watch (continued)
Don’t forget to hold social events that give
neighbors a chance to know each other—a
block party, potluck dinner, volleyball or
softball game, or a picnic.
Thank people publicly for their hard work.
Share data (formal or informal) that show
Neighborhood Watch has helped reduce crime
and improve safety.
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What Else Can
Neighborhood Watch Do?
Adopt a neighborhood park or playground and hold a cleanup. Paint over graffiti in the neighborhood.
Work with local building code officials to bring subpar buildings up to code.
Help neighbors install deadbolt locks, window locks, smoke alarms, and other safety devices in new and existing homes and in commercial buildings.
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What Else Can Neighborhood
Watch Do? (continued)
Work with parents’ groups to start a McGruff®
House or similar block parent program to
provide safe places for children to go during
emergencies.
Publish a newsletter with prevention tips, local
crime news, recognition of residents’
achievements, and news of neighborhood and
community events.
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Expanding the Scope
Neighborhood Watch can serve communities in
many ways beyond preventing crime.
It can provide focus for community
preparedness, including Community
Emergency Response Team training.
Strong, organized, cohesive neighborhoods are
better equipped to recognize terrorism and
handle all sorts of emergency situations.
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Overview of Homeland
Security
Prevent terrorist attacks within the United
States
Reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism
Minimize the damage and recover from
attacks that do occur
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Homeland Security and
Neighborhood Watch
Crime prevention is terrorism prevention.
Both help to achieve safety and security.
Both require action by individuals and neighborhoods.
Both help us cope with fear.
Both need planning and organization to be effective.
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Homeland Security and
Neighborhood Watch (continued)
Neighborhood Watch groups are excellent
platforms for community preparedness.
They are already experienced in teaching residents about prevention.
They often offer networks of neighborhoods.
They are accustomed to training residents in various skills.
They are accustomed to communicating regularly among themselves and with others.
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Homeland Security and
Neighborhood Watch (continued)
Neighborhood Watches can develop neighborhood-level plans for residents to help each other in emergencies; they can keep plans current.
The groups provide excellent focal points for developing inventories of neighborhood skills and equipment that might be needed in emergencies.
They can tap training for security needs.
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An Example
The Pasadena, CA, Police Department matched
the old concept of Neighborhood Watch with
the new idea of security for the recreational
vehicles (RVs) at the Tournament of Roses
parade. Parade Watch, as it came to be known,
provided experienced neighbors to monitor
RVs along the parade route and notify police
of any suspicious vehicles.
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An Example
In Stafford County, VA, the sheriff’s office
identified sites that might be attractive to
terrorists, such as reservoirs, train tracks, and
bridges. Neighborhood Watches near the sites
were invited to get special training in what to
report and how to report it with respect to
possible threats to these targets. All residents
were offered education on preparedness and
mitigation strategies.
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The Crime Prevention
Framework
Crime prevention plays a strategic role in
community preparedness.
Practitioners can help communities apply
crime prevention skills to the work of
community preparedness.
A safe nation begins with safe, engaged
communities.
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Community Preparedness
Much like crime prevention, everyone can have a
role in preparing for the unexpected emergency.
Individuals or families can prepare by
Identifying meeting locations in case of an
emergency
Developing a family emergency contact list
Assembling a disaster supplies kit
Taking a course in first aid or CPR
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Disaster/Emergency
Preparedness
A Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT) is a
neighborhood team (trained
by emergency service
professionals) who respond
to a major disaster when
professionals are
overwhelmed or delayed and
can’t meet immediate needs.
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Disaster/Emergency
Preparedness (continued)
CERT offers 20 hours of instruction and
hands-on training in disaster preparedness, first
aid, fire suppression, light search and rescue,
disaster psychology, team organization, and
terrorism awareness.
For more information, visit
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWEB/CERT.
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Everyone Can Play a Role
Here are some things participants can do.
• Be proactive.
• Get involved.
• Motivate others to get involved.
• Involve all members of the community.
• Translate national needs into community concerns.
• Train and practice.
• Accept the challenge.
• Begin today.
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Resources
www.ncpc.org
and
www.mcgruffstore.org
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Resources From NCPC
United for a Stronger America: Citizens’ Preparedness Guide, National Crime Prevention Council, 2002
Crime Prevention Can Spur and Support Homeland Security in Neighborhoods and Communities, National Crime Prevention Council, 2003
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Resources From NCPC
Citizens’ Involvement in Homeland
Security, National Crime Prevention
Council, 2003
Checklists, emergency family
planning guides, and information on
how to recognize terrorists’
activities can be downloaded from
www.ncpc.org.
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Resources
National Sheriffs’ Association
1450 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-836-7827
www.sheriffs.org
www.USAonwatch.org
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Resources (continued)
National Association of Town Watch
P.O. Box 303
1 Wynnewood Road
Wynnewood, PA 19096
610-649-7055
www.nationaltownwatch.org
National Night Out—first Tuesday in August
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Resources (continued)
Neighborhood Watch Program by
the National Sheriff’s Association
www.usaonwatch.org
Citizens Corps
www.citizenscorps.gov
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Resources (continued)
National Criminal Justice Reference
Service
www.ncjrs.gov
Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS)
www.policevolunteers.org
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The National Crime Prevention Council
2345 Crystal Drive
Suite 500
Arlington, VA 22202
202-466-6272
FAX 202-296-1356
www.ncpc.org
