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AlarmTech - Neighborhood Crime Watch - Organize your own

What Makes A Successful Neighborhood Watch

Typically, Neighborhood Watch groups organize to respond to an immediate threat -- a series of rapes, a sharp increase in burglaries, rising fear of street crime. Often, when the crisis is resolved, membership and commitment to the Watch start to fade away. After all, why keep looking out for criminals if they've been arrested or gone elsewhere?

This short-sighted attitude ignores key benefits of the contemporary Neighborhood Watch -- a Watch group empowers people to prevent crime, forges bonds between law enforcement and the communities they serve, and builds a foundation for broader community improvement. Neighborhood Watch is far more than a quick fix for an immediate crisis -- it can be a moving force for positive changes that tackle root causes of crime.

Why Do Some Neighborhood Associations Thrive and Others Die?

In the mid-1980s, the Citizens Committee of New York City (CCNYC), with funding from the Ford Foundation, undertook the Block Booster Project, a two-year study of relationships among block associations, crime, and community development. The study found that active block associations substantially reduced fear of crime, encouraged crime reporting, stimulated members' involvement in crime prevention, inhibited drug trafficking, and spurred beautification activities. According to Project Director David Chavis, "Block associations weave a tight social fabric and have a profound effect on the sense of community and the way people help each other."

The Block Booster Project also examined why some groups thrived while other withered and died. Use of resources emerged as the key factor. Active, healthy block groups had the same resources as inactive ones, but they used them more effectively. Here are key survival tactics discovered by the Block Booster Project:

Spell out roles and responsibilities of the association and its members. Adopt bylaws and elect officers.
Decentralize planning and work. Delegate tasks and establish standing committees.
Keep in touch with members. Use personal contacts, in and outside of meetings. Distribute a newsletter to communicate regularly with members.
Plan for and train new leaders. Don't burn out existing ones.
Mobilize collective resources and use them. Know members' skills and personal and business contacts. Be realistic about how many people you need to do a job.
Use outside resources, such as government agencies and community-based organizations.
Strike a balance between business and pleasure. Conduct business meetings on time and efficiently, but have a time for socializing before or after the meeting.
Involve all elements in the community -- single parents, renters as well as homeowners, teenagers, senior citizens, business owners and managers.

Extending the Scope of Neighborhood Watch

Successful Neighborhood Watches move beyond the basics of home security, watching out for suspicious activities, and reporting them to law enforcement. They sponsor community cleanups, find solutions to local traffic problems, collect clothing and toys for homeless families, organize after-school activities for young people, help victims of crime, tutor teens at risk of dropping out of school, reclaim playgrounds from drug dealers, and for task forces that influence policymakers.

A Neighborhood Watch's effectiveness depends heavily on its leaders.

Good block captains usually:

Are reliable.
Get along well with people.
Have good communication and negotiating skills.
Do not view the position as a power trip or a chance for personal gain.
Are willing to delegate tasks and listen to others' opinions.
Are organized and can conduct meetings efficiently.
Don't get discouraged easily.
Don't stop at prevention -- have a long-range vision for community improvement.

Motivating Volunteers and Leaders

Hold special training events. Look to police departments, community action and social service organizations, religious institutions, colleges, business associations, schools, and youth organizations for help.
Provide public recognition through awards and articles in newsletters and newspapers.
Issue certificates of appreciation from the mayor or chief law enforcement executive.
Organize a coalition of Neighborhood Watch captains so leaders can learn from each other and join forces to address community-wide issues.
Always look for emerging issues that could affect the community's quality of life.

Mobilizing Community Resources

Community businesses and organizations offer numerous resources for crime prevention programs. Look to:

Religious institutions for meeting space, copying machines, and access to volunteers.
Service clubs and businesses for partnerships in fundraising initiatives.
Libraries for research materials, videos, computers, and meeting space.
Printing companies for free or discounted services for newsletters, fliers, and certificates.
Parent groups and labor unions for advice on organizing and recruiting volunteers.
Local media for publicity.
Senior centers and schools for facilities and equipment.