Community Crime Prevention

Crime Prevention Takes a Community Effort

Block Watch can help prevent and reduce:

• Drug Activity
• Gang Activity
• Graffiti
• Residential Burglaries and Break-ins
• Theft
• Vandalism
• Vehicle Prowling

Many such crimes, including increases in crimes against property and vehicle theft, are connected to an increase in drug trafficking / usage and gang activity. The impact such crimes have on the community resources affects us all. Participation in Block Watch fights the isolation and separation that crime creates and feeds upon, it forges bonds among your neighbors, helps reduce burglaries and other crimes, and improves relations between the police and the community they serve.

What Do Block Watch Members Look For?

Block Watch members look for suspicious activity, including:

• A stranger in the back yard
• A stranger sitting in a car or stopping to talk to a child
• Abandoned cars
• An opened or forced door or window
• Beam from flashlight or light in neighbor’s home
• Persons going door to door
• Persons waiting in front of a home or loitering around the neighborhood
• Property being carried by persons on foot
• Property being loaded into a vehicle or being removed from a vehicle
• Property being taken out of houses where no one is at home or a business after it has closed
• Slow moving vehicles cruising the block
• Someone screaming or shouting for help
• Someone being forced into a vehicle
• Someone looking into windows and parked cars
• Sounds of breaking glass or shattering wood
• Strange vehicles parked at your neighbor’s house
• Unusual noises

Remember if you see a situation that doesn’t feel right, it’s suspicious. Write down the description of any suspicious persons. Get the model, color, and license numbers of strange vehicles. Call the police immediately. Don’t assume someone else has called. If criminal activity has occurred let your Block Watch Captain and neighbors know but call 9-1-1 first!