THE ABC'S OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

1. Any community resident can join -- young and old, single or married, renter or home owner.
2. A few concerned residents with assistance from the Lawton Police Department's Crime Prevention Unit can spearhead the effort to organize a Watch.
3. Members learn how to make their homes more secure, watch out for each other and the neighborhood, and report activities that raise their suspicions to the police.
4. You can form a Watch group around any geographical unit; a block, apartment complex, park, business area, public housing complex, or office.
5. Watch groups are NOT vigilantes. They are extra eyes and ears for reporting crime and helping neighbors. Neighborhood Watch helps build pride and serves as a springboard for efforts that address community concerns such as recreation for youth, child care, and affordable housing.

GETTING ORGANIZED

When a group decides to form a Neighborhood Watch, it:

1. Should contact the Lawton Police Department's Crime Prevention Unit (581-3538 or 581-3547) for help in training members in home security, reporting skills, and for information on local crime patterns.
2. Selects a coordinator and block captains who are responsible for organizing meetings and relaying information to members. Neighborhood Watch meetings can be held in schools, churches, or homes.
3. Recruits members, keeps up-to-date on new residents, and makes special efforts to involve the elderly, working parents, and young people.
4. Works with the Crime Prevention Unit to purchase and install Neighboorhood Watch signs, usually after or least 50 percent of all households are enrolled. (Note: Each Neighborhood Watch group is responsible for the purchase price of any signs. For more information, call either of the phone numbers listed above for the Crime Prevention Unit.)

NEIGHBORS LOOK FOR...

1. Someone screaming or shouting for help.
2. Someone looking into windows and parked cars.
3. Unusual noises.
4. Property being taken out of houses where no one is at home or closed businesses.
5. Cars, vans, or trucks moving slowing with no apparent destination or without lights.
6. Anyone being forced into a vehicle.
7. A stranger sitting in a car or stopping to talk to a child.
8. Abandoned cars.

HOW TO REPORT A CRIME

1. Give your name and address.
2. Briefly describe the event -- what happened, when, where, and who was involved.
3. Describe the suspect: sex and race, age, height, weight, hair color, clothing, distinctive characteristics such a beard, mustache, scars, or accent.
4. Describe the vehicle if one was involved: color, make, model, year, license plate, and special features such as stickers, dents, or decals.

STAYING ALIVE

1. Organize regular meetings that focus on current issues such as drug abuse, "hate" or bias-motivated violence, crime in schools, child care before and after school, recreational activities for young people, and victim services.
2. Organize community patrols to walk around streets or apartment complexes and alert police to crime and suspicious activities and identify problems needing attention. Citizens in cars with cellular phones can patrol their neighborhoods and report crime or suspicious activity.
3. Adopt a park or school playground. Pick up litter, repair broken equipment, paint over graffiti.
4. Work with local building code officials to require dead bolt locks, smoke alarms, and other safety devices in new and existing homes and commercial buildings.
5. Work with parent groups and schools to start a program to help children in emergency situations.
6. Publish a newsletter that gives prevention tips and local crime news, recognizes residents of all ages who have "made a difference," and highlights community events.
7. Don't forget social events that give neighbors a chance to know each other -- a block party, potluck dinner, volleyball or softball game, picnic.

Back to the Crime Prevention Topics menu