The Ervin Davis Crime Watch Manual ----- Page # 1

So you want to start a
Neighborhood Watch ?


"The only thing necessary for the Triumph of evil,
is for Good men to do nothing !!!"
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

Crime Watch Manual :
Do you want to start a neighborhood watch ?


(page one)





WELCOME

Welcome to the rest of your life.
If you care about improving the quality of life for your family and your neighborhood, ........ please read on.
Information contained on this page could change your life forever, by making you aware of some steps that you can take to make your home, family and neighborhood more secure against crime.
The subliminal goal of Neighborhood Crime Watch is to give potential criminals the feeling that everyone in the community is watching the criminals every move and that criminal activity WILL be reported to Police.
My personal hope for your Crime Watch is that your neighborhood does just that,.... and as a result becomes a safer place for everyone !



General Objectives of a Crime Watch

      • Neighbors getting to know each other.
        • Removing the fear of not knowing your neighbors.
      • Organize people for crime prevention objectives.
      • Increase awareness of existing crime.
      • Become observant for suspicious activity.
      • Report crime and suspected crime.
      • Encourage cooperation with law enforcement agencies.
      • Mark property and serial numbers.
      • Reduce incidences of crime.
      • Be safer and feel safer in your neighborhood.
      • Keep in communication, such as via :
        • Phone
        • FAX
        • Letter
        • E-mail
        • Newsletter
        • Door to door
        • Public Meetings
        • Any of the above, or any other way that
          communications can be effectively
          accomplished between any and all
          of the interested parties.


Neighborhoods are Changing

In recent years, old neighborhoods have experienced rapid change.
Depending on where you happen to live at,..... prior to the mid-1960's most of your neighbors may have been property owners and long term residents, who had lifelong investments in their property and their neighborhoods, so they KNEW each other, HELPED each other and WATCHED out for each others properties and families.
Personal concern was a way of life then, as was a feeling of belonging and expected helpful involvement by neighbors supporting a neighbors home security and welfare, ..... but times are changing.
My own "Morningside Neighborhood" is an excellent example of this, where kids moved back to their childhood neighborhood to live near Mom and Dad, ..... who became grandparents and great-grandparents,.... resulting in the neighborhood becoming over a half century of predominatly inter-woven friends and relatives experiencing lifestyles of cooperative extended family relationships......., where they 'took care of their own problems' without much requirement for outside assistance from authorities.
But the property owner 'occupants' in many of those old, well-established neighborhoods are selling their propderties, and being rapidly replaced by a higher number of absentee landlords, who provide rental units in those growing communities, with denser neighborhood populations.
    Such changing neighborhood lifestyles promote :
  • Shorter term (property renter) neighbors.
  • Fewer long term (property owner / resident) neighbors.
  • Neighbors who are now strangers,... instead of
    relatives or old friends, who's level of trust was known.
  • Isolationism and alienation from neighbor 'strangers'.
  • Subsequent unfamiliarity with
    new neighbors,... and their routines.
  • As well as a corresponding lack of concern between such
    unfamiliar and unconcerned neighbors.

Unfortunately, those same neighborhood lifestyle changes also enhance opportunities for the criminal element , and increases the neighborhood's vulnerability to crime.

Your Risk of Crime

The risk of being a crime victim could depend greatly upon what city and neighborhood you happen to live in.
While 75% of the population may never need a Policeman, it may indeed be that other 25% of the community is where YOU may live at, where crime is most prevalent and where crime prone individuals find most inviting to become YOUR very neighbors.
      • You can reduce your odds of being a crime victum by increasing your awareness and prevention measures.

Generally speaking : If crime is easy to commit then you will have more crime in your neighborhood than where people won't tolerate crime,.........and criminals know that, so remember that important fact as you develop your neighborhood crime prevention strategies.

Then decide what types of crime that you and your neighbors will NOT tolerate anymore, then prioritize those crimes, and 'draw a line in the sand' , as the place where to start your Crime Watch on a path towards eliminating those types of priority crime problems first.
      • You may want to avoid spreading yourself too thin, in the beginning, so you may want to start by addressing solutions for specific crime problems.
      • Keep in mind that the Police only have so much
        manpower to devote to this.

Some additional reasons why neighborhood's become more vulnerable to crime, may include :

PROPERTY OWNERS : When resident property owners and absentee landlords enter the threshold of no longer caring to maintain high standards for the maintenance of their property, then higher crime is a noted attribute of neighborhood neglect.

CRIME : Such progressive crime conditions, and threats of crime, dictate the need for a Neighborhood Crime Watch.
How crime, fear of crime and perceived crime, threatens your community :
  • Neighbors become afraid to sit on their front pourch or in their yards
    • People stop talking to their neighbors
  • The streets and parks become seldom used for social functions
    • Personal freedoms are surrendered to fear
  • Stores close and one-by-one the shops move away
    • Neighborhood blight follows
  • Suspicion erupts between the young and old
    • Disputes and vindictive behavior may follow
  • Friction then develops between those of different social cliques
    • Isolation becomes a way of life for many people
      who raise their children to be the same way.
    • Some turn to Gangs or peer groups for sympathetic protection
      • And criminals feed on all the social isolation created from
        the above types of situations.

RENTAL PROBLEMS : In some instances landlords seem to care only about rent payments and NOT about the kind of people they rent to,........ or such further disruptive effects upon your once peaceful neighborhood. As a result, there seems to be a frequent correlation between crime and the neighborhoods going through a transition from 'owner occupied homes' to a neighborhood where increasing residents live in rental units that support 'short term renters', rather than long term contract rental units.
Long term renters generally adopt a gradual concern about the upkeep of their rented property and the neighborhood in which they reside for many months or years,....... while brief short-term renters may not even care about you or your neighborhood situation.

NEIGHBORS : As a result of the frequent arrival and departure of short term Renters in some neighbors, the results might be like 'Russian Roulette' in which the 'nice guy' who just moved into the rental next door might be a lovely newlywed couple, a nice elderly couple, a great neighbor ........, or end up being a future problem Burglar or Drug Dealer or Gang Banger merely fleeing from another neighborhood,........fleeing the attention received in some other neighborhood by Police, where residents would NOT tolerate their criminal behavior.
By bringing neighbors together at public meetings with Police, then those suspicions and fears are removed when the wall of isolation is removed and 'strangers' come together for common goals to become 'neighbors' and friends.

POLICE : Police have often commented to me their inability to keep track of the frequent movements of such criminals, --who's ease of mobility may also be funded by well meaning public assistance agencies--, who live a few weeks in one neighborhood until someone reports their activity to Police then they move to another neighborhood or further conceal the location of their residency by moving in and out quickly or living a few weeks with a friend, until they are not so much in demand by Police.
When 'strangers' come together at Crime Watch meetings with Police, then such concerns, fears and unknowns are eventually removed and those 'strangers' become 'familiar neighbors', which in itself reduces fear, and increases feelings of being more secure from more aware lifestyles.

GANGS : In some dilapidated inner-city Gang dominated neighborhoods, where no one seems to care anymore, the neglected conditions send very distinct messages to youth regarding their value and importance within society, so it's hard to associate feelings of pride, importance, and self-worth with oneself and one's neighborhood.

POLITICIANS : For any crime prevention effort to be successful, it will require support from politicians, who hold elected positions of public trust, and as voters you have a little say in who those people are.
Is the crime rate increasing or decreasing in your community ?
The answer to that question usually depends on who you talk to......., where they live at......, if they listen to Police radio frequencies or just read what's printed in the newspaper,...... or if they need the crime statistics slanted one way or the other to qualify for a Grant......., and sometimes it depends on how close to an election it is !
So talk to your elected officials on a regular basis and keep them politely informed about your neighborhood crime problems and be sure to kindly ask their cooperation.
If they help your neighborhood occasionally or if they simply neglect it, make sure everyone you know hears from you about how well they did or how poorly......, especially your Mayor or Town Manager as he / she is the person who has the ear of the Police Chief and who can insure your neighborhood crime problems are resolved.

LACK OF CRIMINAL AWARENESS : Anther problem is the general lack of resident awareness about crimes occurring inside and near to their neighborhood......., and who is responsible.
Sometimes by the time Police are 'made aware' and intervene in criminal behavior, some of those criminals have cashed into the ease of protective mobility provided by well meaning public assistance agencies, who provide rent / utility payments and other forms of available assistance, that make it possible for criminals to easily move respectfully into your neighborhood.

YOU : Sometimes people get so busy they turn inward and neglect their responsibilities to others, while letting their own life bog them down and become too busy to even be concerned about such things as personal security,..... untill THEY get 'ripped off' and THEN they want 'immeadiate' solutions !
  • Frequently they tend to blame 'everyone else' for 'not being there for them',..... when THEY were never there for anyone else, or not even interested in their own personal security untill THEY got 'ripped off'.
  • Often their sudden concern about crime and security is short lived and only important to them untill they collect from their Insurance Company, replace stolen property, or simply are so busy with their lifestyle again that they 'forget',.... only to again renew their concern about security when they get ripped off again.

So the BAD news is that there simply are NOT enough Police to be on every corner,.... so citizen involvement is essential.

But the GOOD news is that YOU and your neighbors are the very ones who know what is going on in your neighborhood,..... so by helping one another --and the Police-- you can result in lowering crimes, which translates into safer neighborhoods with a Crime Watch....., IF it is supported by Police.

Crime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime Watch


CRIME WATCH :

So when ever you and your neighbors decide it's time to do something about crime problems by working together, is the time to start building a path towards a safer neighborhood,..... with a Neighborhood Crime Watch.
Crime Watch provides a common vehicle that can be shared by property owners, renters, police, buisness owners, and community support agencies to work closer together for common goals beneficial to your neighborhood.
Crime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime WatchCrime Watch



Can You Afford Crime Watch ?

Frankly, you can't afford to be without a Crime Watch !
Neighborhood Crime Watch can reduce the easy commission of crime by asking neighbors to know each other, watch out for each other, then to develope the courage to immeadiatly report to Police any crime or suspicious activity.
Then once that phase is 'adequately' launched, you can begin considering various alternate strategic paths of approach towards addressing your neighborhoods specific crime category of problems,..... one by one.
Since the early 1990's some 30,000 separate neighborhood crime prevention programs have been established in neighborhoods just like yours, across America and other nations.
    NOTE : The community crime prevention group NAME may be different where you happen to live at ,.... so in your community what I refer to as "CRIME WATCH" may be called ;
  • -- Crime Alert
  • -- Home Alert
  • -- Farm Watch
  • -- Block Watch
  • -- Crime Watch
  • -- Cellular Patrol
  • -- Citizens Watch
  • -- Citizens on Patrol
  • -- Community Watch
  • -- Rural Crime Watch
  • -- Neighborhood Watch
  • -- Citizens Crime Watch
  • -- Citizens Safety Project
  • -- Sheriff's County Watchers
  • -- Project Safe Neighborhood
  • -- Community Observers Policing Patrol
  • -- Organized Citizens Crime Prevention and Reporting
  • -- ............or called by some other name.
The above names may appear very different but the ideas are basically the same, which is : Neighbors watching out for each other,..... like what use to be commonly done in America's neighborhoods.
Some Neighborhood Watch groups expand from a 'watch' into a 'patrol' ,..... but such a jump also incorporates liability issues, and vigilante concerns, so to simplify this a bit lets stick with the basic concepts of a Neighborhood Crime Watch,..... and leave any future 'patrol' potentials to be a discussion between your Crime Watch group and your local law enforcement agency.



Is It Worth Your Time Investment ?

Crime Watch is one of the most successful investments to prevent residential crime, .....and the price is 'right' , it's FREE !
Also it is very simple : as basically Crime Watch promotes residents to protect their neighborhood by 'observing and then reporting' crime, suspicious or unusual activities that could relate to crime.
Volunteers, personal contacts, donations, law enforcement support and neighborhood unity are essential components in the heart of any effective Crime Watch organization.
The ease or difficulty in which your Crime Watch reaches its objectives will be determined by YOUR creativity, dedication, persistence and the support that your Crime Watch receives from your neighbors and community officials.
Once people realize THEY are Crime Watch, not just YOU,...... and when they start seeing little improvements, THEN is when more residents will generally want to get involved.
So let everyone know how to contact your Crime Watch and / or when any meetings are held.




Participating in Crime Watch and the lowering of crime in your neighborhood is a 'cause and effect' situation......so every bite taken from the big picture of crime results in lowering your crime problems and everyones crime picture.



Planning : Keep it Simple

Simplicity is often better than complex design.

  • So keep Crime Watch objectives and planning as simple as possible,
    ( especially in the beginning ), so that slower paced people can
    catch up with the plan and comprehend what is being discussed.
  • So during your meetings, speak in a manner and with word selection
    so that EVERYONE in the meeting room can understand
    what you are talking about.
      • Don't create 'weak links' in your 'support chain' by going too fast. Everyone may not have been exposed to all of your experiances in life or may be so sheltered during their developement that they can not comprehend your meaning, so remember "K.I.S.S." = Keep It Simple Stupid !
        • You may even want to devide into seperate project
          committies if a few people 'slowing down'
          your group becomes a problem.
  • There is a similar effective crime prevention eliment of strategy that
    can duplicated for nearly every type of crime problem. So don't re-invent
    the wheel with every crime problem, as familarization with present
    crime will help simplify new strategy for your neighborhood's future
    crime problems.
  • So find what works best for 'your particular neighborhood', then when
    you address different crime problems, don't re-invent the wheel, just
    reapply applicable steps that worked best the last time.
  • Also remember, just because you are having Crime Watch meetings
    in your neighborhood does NOT make crime simply go away,
    as crime reduction means YOU, so y-o-u MUST do your part.
        • Just like my 'Morningside Crime Watch' motto says :
          "YOU only get out of something what YOU put into it !"

    If you want to hold a Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting and need
    suggestions, just follow the arrow below to the next page.


    Double-click on arrow for more Crime Watch Manual pages



    Crime Prevention Library
    Laws of Indiana
    Sex Offenders ~ Search
    Criminal History Search
    Muncie Information
    Morningside CRIME WATCH
    Indiana Law Enforcement Agencies
    Police Magazine
    KIDs DAY 1997
    KIDs DAY 1998





    Technical Editor

    Kimberly Davis


    Author and Publisher

    Ervin Davis
    Crime Watch Coordinator
    Morningside CRIME WATCH
    Muncie, Indiana 47303-1364
    E-Mail : morningsidecw@aol.com



    Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
    ©
    All rights reserved



    This document Page began 6 June 1998, published 8 November 1998 and occationally up-dated.

    WebMaster : Ervin Davis



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