Cedar Management Group Blog
My topic for this month, which is pinpointing community crime, piggybacks off of one of my early blogs on creating a sense of community. There is a tremendous amount of data available regarding your immediate surroundings and the crime levels thereat. Your local police department will likely have some sort of Crime Mapping on their website. The CharMeck crime map is located at http://maps.cmpdweb.org/cmpdnet/agreement.aspx?ref=map. There are numerous other websites with useful crime statistics that you may find helpful also (SpotCrime, Crime Reports, CrimeMapping, EveryBlock, etc).
Having a safe, secure, informed neighborhood that communicates is a helpful way to maintain a happy and peaceful home life. We are fortunate enough to live in a society where police are here to protect and serve, but it is always a good idea to take a more active role in your family's safety. Forming a neighborhood watch, sometimes called block watch, crime watch or community watch, is one way to protect yourself and your neighbors.
When the neighborhood bands together in an effort to prevent or reduce crime, especially when posting "Neighborhood Watch" signs around the community or in their windows, criminals understand that their task won't be easy, at the very least. Even if the criminal doesn't take heed, the neighborhood watch is encouraged to be vigilant and take note of unusual activity and noises in the neighborhood. Many associations will send out an email blast to the community informing them of new information and advising them to watch for suspicious activity.
One example of how a block watch can be effective is if you are planning a vacation, let your community watch know how long you will be gone, ensuring that special notice is taken of your property by your neighbors while you are away.
When a neighborhood takes a responsible role in its own safety, it can only serve to alleviate the pressures on law enforcement. It serves everyone well for the neighborhood watch program and the local police to work together to help prevent crime. Law enforcement helps the watch program by providing training, equipment and officers who are assigned to be part of the program. The officers who are assigned to a particular neighborhood attend watch program meetings and help the neighborhood understand the potential for crime and on what issues the watch needs to consider by providing crime reports from the surrounding areas.
Getting to know your neighbors in our modern age can be challenging. Often, both partners in a relationship work outside of the home, or are busy going to different activities for children. A neighborhood watch serves a purpose besides public safety, and that is being neighborly. When you are called upon to help ensure the safety of your neighbors, there is a natural ability to get to know one another better. A watch meeting or program in general can be a natural impetus for learning more about one another's lives and families. A neighborhood watch can promote a general sense of well-being that overlaps into the social realm, which gives even more reason to take care of one another.
