Neighborhood Watch / Business Watch groups

There are any number of good reasons why neighbors should watch out for each other in today's world. The LAPD needs help, and an informed community can go a long way towards reducing crime, enduring safety, and improving the quality of life.

While some of the residents believe our City Departments will just take care of things for us, many of us understand there's a need for our active participation, both in the neighborhoods and along commercial corridors.

We can be the eyes and ears of the City, helping direct resources appropriately.

A Neighborhood Watch group 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 LAPD and the communities it serves.

The following is what is published and recommended about Neighborhood Watch by LAPD:

The ABCs of a Neighborhood Watch

Any community member can join ... young and old, single and married, renter and home owner. A few concerned residents, a community organization, or a law enforcement agency can spearhead the effort to organize a Watch.

Members learn how to make their homes more secure, watch out for each other and the neighborhood, and report activities that raise their suspicions to the police. You can form a Watch group around any geographical unit: a block, apartment, park, business area, public housing complex, office, or a marina.

Watch groups are not vigilantes. They are extra eyes and ears for reporting crime and helping neighbors. A Neighborhood Watch helps build pride and serves as a springboard for efforts that address community concerns such as recreation for youth, child care, and affordable housing.

The US Attorney General, John Ashcroft, announced a nationwide
Neighborhood Watch Campaign on March 6, 2002

Getting a Watch Organized

Forming a Neighborhood Watch is a challenge. Here are some tips to get your group started:

· · Contact the LAPD or your local Senior Lead Officer (SLO) for help in training members in home security and reporting skills and for information on local crime patterns

· · Select a coordinator and block captains who are responsible for organizing meetings and relaying information to members

· · Recruit members, keeping up-to-date on new residents and making special efforts to involve the elderly, working parents, and young people

Once it's established work with local government to put up Neighborhood Watch signs, usually after at least 50 percent of all households are enrolled.

Neighbors Look Out for Each Other

Neighbors teach neighbors to think about reporting these suspicious kinds of things:

· · Someone screaming or shouting for help

· · Someone looking into windows and parked cars

· · Unusual noises, including gunshots

· · Property being taken out of closed businesses or houses where no one is at home

· · Cars, vans, or trucks moving slowly with no apparent destination, or without lights

· · Anyone being forced into a vehicle

· · A stranger sitting in a car or stopping to talk to a child

· · Abandoned cars

Report these incidents to LAPD or call your SLO. Talk with your neighbors about the problem.

How to Make a Report

You can report an incident anonymously, and / or request that Officers do not come to your door. Police Reports about incidents that have occurred can be taken over the phone.

For non-emergencies LAPD has a special number which will keep the 911 lines free:

· · · · · · · · 1 / 877 / ASK-LAPD · · ( 1 / 877 / 275-5273 )

But for immediate help in an emergency dial 911.

Here's what you should be prepared to say:

· · Give your name and address

· · Briefly describe the event: what happened, when, where, and who was involved

· · Describe the suspect: sex, race, age, height, weight, hair color, clothing, distinctive characteristics such as beard, mustache, scars, or accent

· · Describe the vehicle if one was involved: color, make, model, year, license plate, and special features such as stickers, dents, or decals

If Crime Is Reduced Keep the Watch Going

It's an unfortunate fact that when a neighborhood crime crisis goes away, so does enthusiasm for a Neighborhood Watch. Work to keep your Watch group a vital force for community well-being:

· · Organize regular meetings that focus on current issues such as drug abuse, bias-motivated violence, crime in schools, child care before and after school, recreational activities for young people, and victim services

· · Organize community patrols to walk around streets or apartment complexes and alert LAPD to crime and suspicious activities and identify problems needing attention

· · People in cars with cellular phones or CB radios can patrol

· · Adopt a park or school playground

· · Pick up litter, repair broken equipment, paint over graffiti

· · Work with local building code officials to require dead bolt locks, smoke alarms, and other safety devices in new and existing homes and commercial buildings

· · Work with parent groups and schools to start a McGruff House or other block parent program to help children in emergency situations

· · Publish a newsletter that gives prevention tips and local crime news, recognizes residents of all ages who have made a difference, and highlights community events

And don't forget ... social events give neighbors a chance to know each other. So have a block party, a potluck dinner, a volleyball or softball game, or a picnic.