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NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
The best crime prevention device ever invented is a good neighbor. The security steps you and your neighbors take as a group are just as important as the things you do individually. This joint effort is called Neighborhood Watch. Neighborhood Watch should include an effort to inform every one of good home security techniques, marking and listing your property, and neighborhood participation. In addition, it should include watching out for and reporting suspicious or unusual activities in your neighborhood.
To Start a Neighborhood Watch Group
There are specific criteria established for a community to become a sanctioned Neighborhood Watch group. This gives the placement of a Neighborhood Watch sign in your community more credibility and meaning to the residents and potential criminals alike. Those criteria are:
1) One person must be willing to act as the Coordinator.
2) 40% of the residences in the community must be willing to participate in the Neighborhood Watch network and meetings.
3) There must be one Block Captain for every 10 residences in the community.
4) Neighborhood Watch meetings must be held a minimum of once per year.
5) Residents are encouraged to participate in a home security survey and Operation Identification.
It is easy to organize a Neighborhood Watch in your area. Coordinate a date, time, and location for your neighborhood’s initial meeting with a Crime Prevention Specialist from the Sheriff’s Office Crime Prevention Unit. During this initial meeting, the Sheriff’s Office will offer tips on home security, crime awareness, operation identification, and how to report suspicious activities.
Duties of the Coordinator
The coordinator is the liaison between the Crime Prevention Specialist and the residents of the neighborhood. This person is responsible for organizing the various neighborhood meetings by coordinating times, dates, and locations with the Crime Prevention Specialist and the neighborhood participants. The coordinator is also expected to:
1) Maintain an up-to-date list of the block captains and participants in the neighborhood and see to it that this list is passed to the Crime Prevention Specialist.
2) Keep in contact with the Crime Prevention Specialist to both give and receive information on crime prevention techniques, neighborhood problems or crime trends.
3) Disseminate information from the Crime Prevention Specialist to the citizens.
4) Relay information on community problems/concerns to the Crime Prevention Specialist.
5) Attend Neighborhood Watch training sessions.
6) Recruit and assign block captains to the various block/areas of the neighborhood.
Duties of the Block Captain
The block captains have one of the most important functions in the Neighborhood Watch program. They supervise the citizen participants who join Neighborhood Watch in the community. They are also the link between the neighborhood’s coordinator and the citizen participants. Any information that is sent to the coordinator from either citizen participants or the Crime Prevention Specialist is then distributed to the various block captains who are responsible for distribution. This can be done door-to-door, as with printed literature, by use of a telephone chain, and/or e-mail.
The duties are not that time consuming for the citizen participant who takes on this position. Rather, the job will provide a means for meeting with neighbors, as well as allowing you the opportunity to help make your community a safer place in which to live. The block captain is responsible for approximately ten homes, and he or she is expected to:
1) Encourage neighborhood participation in the program.
2) Compile a list of names of all households on the block who wish to participate in the Neighborhood Watch program. This list should include the household address, name, phone numbers (preferably home, work, and cell) and an e-mail address.
3) Assist the Neighborhood Watch coordinator with neighborhood meetings.
4) Act as the liaison between the coordinator and the citizen participants. Relaying information and crime prevention literature to the residents on their block, in return providing information to the Sheriff’s Office from the residents through the coordinator.
5) Assist in the formulation and maintenance of telephone and e-mail chains.
6) Welcome new neighbors to your neighborhood and encourage their joining of the Neighborhood Watch program.
7) Assist the coordinator with the training of their neighbors in using good Neighborhood Watch techniques, such as how to observe suspicious persons and activities, how to join Operation Identification, how to report a crime and/or emergency.
Block Captain Information
The block captain should give the following information to the residents:
- Orange County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Number – 911
- Orange County Sheriff’s Office Non-Emergency Number 407-836-HELP (4357)
-Block Captain information (name, number and e-mail)
- Coordinator (name, number and e-mail)
The block captain must get the following information from residents:
- Name
- Address
- Home and work numbers
- E-mail address
The block captain should advise residents to:
1) Call the Sheriff’s Office first for any law enforcement problem.
2) Call the block captain with any information – what happened, when it happened, point of entry, and any suspect information.
3) If the block captain is not home, call the coordinator.
After the block captain gets the necessary information, he/she calls the coordinator and then their assigned homes. The coordinator will then call the other block captains and each of them will in turn call their assigned homes.
Remember:
�� The block captain is NOT the police of the neighborhood.
�� The telephone chain is for normal hours, except for emergencies.
�� If the residents are not interested in Neighborhood Watch, leave.
�� The telephone chain is not for domestic problems.
�� Try not to make third party calls. If possible, have the residents call the Sheriff’s Office themselves.
�� Welcome new neighbors and give the coordinator the updated information.
�� Advise residents to call their block captain on a timely basis for passing on criminal information.
�� Return a master list of your assigned homes to the coordinator as soon as possible.
For more information on the Neighborhood Watch program, call the Sector I Crime Prevention Deputy Stanley Murray at 407-254-1023 or . | 
