CRIME PREVENTION
'Community Watch' is a citizen involvement program. Working towards a positive partnership relationship we can and will make a difference."
Our very successful Community Watch Program is intended to teach community residents how to observe and report suspicious persons and vehicles in their neighborhoods.
The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office continues to be proactive in enforcing laws and ordinances to protect the lives and well being of Salt Lake County residents. However, due to the increasing number of calls for service it is essential for neighborhood residents to act as the eyes and ears of the Sheriff's Office. Deputy sheriff's want and need the assistance of neighborhood residents to report suspicious persons, acts of vandalism, abandoned cars, cars driving slowing through the neighborhood or any other behavior that causes a resident to feel uncomfortable and uneasy.
Since the early years of our existence citizens have been a driving force in reducing crime by reporting suspicious persons to law enforcement so deputy sheriff's can quickly determine if any laws have been violated or if the suspicious person has a reasonable explanation for his or her actions.
Anyone who has watched a western movie can recall the haste with which the citizens informed the sheriff when a stranger rode into town. We must rekindle that spirit of vigilance by watching for suspicious persons in our own neighborhoods. We ask residents to be vigilant, but not vigilantes.
Organizing and maintaining an effective Community Watch can have many benefits. It provides residents with a means to learn crime prevention methods and take advantage of other crime prevention programs offered by the Sheriff's Office. By joining together residents can speak with a unified voice when contacting elected officials or others who provide services to their neighborhoods.
A major benefit derived from neighbors working together is a means to provide a cohesiveness in the neighborhood for problem solving and communication. Residents who learn the basic rules of crime prevention, including crime prevention through environmental design, can reduce opportunistic crimes by denying the criminal the opportunity. Chronic nuisance problems in the neighborhood may best be resolved by working with the Community Action Team Coordinator who serves your area.
To be successful a criminal must have the Ability to commit the crime, the Desire or Intent to commit the crime and, above all, the Opportunity to commit the crime. Your collective involvement in the Community Watch Program, acting as the eyes and ears of the law enforcement, will allow the Sheriff's Office to engage in proactive patrolling, more involved investigations and continue their pursuit of serious habitual offenders.
Your neighborhood safety lies in the combined efforts of all neighbors to look after one another and report suspicious persons.
Your First Meeting
Community Watch may be the most effective and least costly means to prevent crime and reduce fear in your neighborhood. However, you can't do it alone. To be successful you must invite the entire neighborhood to participate and join forces in this mutual effort to eradicate crime from your community.
Community Watch groups not only prevent crime, but can offer a catalyst for bringing better service and restoring pride to a neighborhood. The Community Watch consists of a group of neighbors who are concerned and interested in protecting their homes, their families and their neighbors from the ravages of crime and other dangers.
Step One: Talk to several of your neighbors and determine that sufficient interest exists to organize a Community Watch Program.
Step Two: Determine if you are willing to devote the time and energy necessary to act as the Coordinator. The coordinator finds interested people who will serve as Block Captains. The coordinator serves as the liaison between the Sheriff's Office and the block captains. The block captains take information to the neighborhood residents and brings feedback to the coordinator to be relayed to the Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Specialist or Community Action Team Coordinator.
Step Three: Determine if you wish to host the first meeting yourself. We suggest you consider doing so. The advantage of doing this is you can allow grievances and concerns to be discussed candidly between the neighbors attending the meeting. Select Block Captains volunteers from those attending your initial meeting. You may collectively formulate a list of concerns and fears to be presented to the Sheriff's Office for suggestions and recommendations. We suggest that you invite a Crime Prevention Specialist to your second meeting. You may do so by calling 468-3901.
Our experience shows you will obtain the best turn out Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday at 7 p.m. If you wish to schedule on another day and time we will make every effort to accommodate your request.
Step Four: Contact with residents in the neighborhood should be made before each scheduled meeting. You may choose to host these meetings at your home, at a local church or school or at any location of your choosing. We suggest you find a location that can provide a television and VCR. Some neighborhoods decide to host outdoor programs featuring pot luck dinners or some other refreshments. The usual one hour program will be somewhat shorter when the video program is eliminated in an outdoor presentation.
You're On Your Way
You have selected your Block Captains and completed the organizational training provided by Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Services. We have brochures that describes the Duties of a Block Captain available for your use. However, we emphasize that this is a citizen program. We offer suggestions and recommendations, but do not dictate how you will organize or conduct your Community Watch program.
Keeping interest from waning may be your most difficult undertaking. We suggest that you consider using our Block Captain Action Plan that outlines monthly activities the neighborhood can become involved in to promote communication and maintain interest in continuing the Community Watch program. Hosting neighborhood block parties is frequently the most effective method to maintain community interest.
We encourage you to visit one of our Crime Prevention Resource Centers to obtain crime prevention brochures for your Block Captains to pass out during their visits to homes in their neighborhoods. You can also Email Deputy Craig Meyer of the Crime Prevention Unit for more information.
When you need assistance or advice on how to successfully conduct your Community Watch program you may contact Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Services at 468-3901. Chronic nuisance problems prevalent in your neighborhood may be referred to the Community Policing Deputy who serves your area.