Neighborhood Watch programs go by many names: Community Watch, Crime Watch, Building Watch. But whatever you call it, when neighbors organize to help their local police department watch over their community, it can make a significant impact on reducing crime and fear in your area.

First Steps

An individual, community organization, or law enforcement agency can initiate a Crime Watch Neighborhood program through a few simple steps:
 

• Hold a meeting to talk about crime problems and see if there is enough interest to organize a Crime Watch Neighborhood.

• Contact your local Camillus Police Department to train neighbors in home security, crime patterns, what to watch for and how to report it.

• Select an overall coordinator and block captains to organize volunteers and establish effective communications.

• ​Sign up volunteers, including homeowners and renters, business owners, the elderly, working parents; young people ; anybody who can help.

• Effective Crime Watch Neighborhood Program Essentials

A typical Crime Watch Neighborhood program requires:
 

• Regular meetings to keep your organization operating.

• Volunteers that are vigilant to spot and report any problems.

• Regular communications, such as fliers, newsletters, emails or phone calls.

• Special events to keep members interested and active, including helpful seminars, block parties or neighborhood clean-ups.

 

What a Crime Watch Neighborhood program does:

The typical Crime Watch Neighborhood program involves four ways to make your neighborhood safer:
Offers a service to mark valuable items with an identifying number to discourage theft and help the police track down stolen articles.

• Utilizes proven techniques to make homes safer.

• Organizes residents in watching over each other and the neighborhood, noting and reporting anything unusual or suspicious to the local authorities, including:

                                Screams or calls for help
                                Someone looking into cars or homes
                                A stranger removing items from unoccupied homes or closed businesses
                                Vehicles cruising slowly or without lights
                                Anyone being forced into a vehicle
                                A stranger stopping to talk to a child

• Calling the Camillus Police Department at (315) 435-2333 to:

                                Quickly explain what happened
                                Give your name and address
                                Describe the suspect's gender and race, age, height, weight, hair color, clothes, and
                                distinguishing features like facial hair, scars, accent
                                If a vehicle is involved, report the color, make, model, year, license plate and
                                distinguishing features, like bumper stickers or dents