Neighborhood Watches

S

Sparks2112

New member
A couple of questions.

Are neighborhood watches useful?

How does one go about organizing one?

If you patrol your neighborhood as part of a watch, happen to be armed, and shoot someone, could vigilantism be brought up in court?

Anyone have any good/bad neighborhood watch stories?

Sorry for the choppy/short post, carpal tunnel acting up today.
 
Neighborhood watch programs differ in effectiveness based on a variety of factors. Some seem to work quite well, others seem to have no effect at all. You should contact your local LE agency for information about setting one up.
If you patrol your neighborhood as part of a watch, happen to be armed, and shoot someone, could vigilantism be brought up in court?
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Probably. But few LE-approved watches will allow members to carry guns while on patrol.
 
The only neighborhood watch programs I've seen in my community emphasize being alert and reporting suspicious persons. A Police officer will meet with people and tell them what to be alert for. No patrols involved.

And of course, citizens have banded together to protect their neigborhoods during times of unrest brought about by natural, as well as man made, events. As LE availability decreases, criminal activity increases.

As far as citizen patrols are concerned, I believe Dave is correct with re: to carrying firearms. To be sanctioned by the Police, you'd have to agree to that.

Maybe one of the good things about armed citizens patrolling their neighborhoods without approval is that it, alone, would tend to bring out the Police faster than a cop can down a doughnut--- if only to keep an eye on the armed citizens while giving the thugs even more incentive to disappear.:D

To get the ball rolling, a simple call to your local Sheriff or PD non emergency number should do the trick. If you get stonewalled, and you have a serious situation in your neighborhood, the other call you make is to your local media. All of them.

You may have to put the Police in the spotlight to get results. They may not even have a Police sanctioned citizen patrol program. They may be short on manpower. Might mean some work involved and the co-operation of lots of neighbors--not just a few.

You have to weigh the size of the problem in relation to the work involved in solving it.
 
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The Neighborhood Watch is an excellent tool to even get your neighbors to be "nosey" about what goes on around them. When we set up ours, (I started it, so I inevitibly got elected Captain) everybody from the block was invited to a meeting in my basement, where the liaison police officer told everybody the dos and don'ts/ins and outs of a successful watch. Armed with statistics from crime reports from our area, I can tell you he raised a few eyebrows. There was a lot of "are you kidding me?" and "I had no idea" coming from the crowd of mostly non-gunnies. It helped. Our crime level has dropped off to practically nothing but a few petty thefts and tire punctures. Before that, it was auto thefts, B&Es, and even drug busts, so I'm convinced it works.
Our Neighborhood Patrol Watch is a seperate entity from the Neighborhood Watch, and as was said, disarms you even if you are properly licensed, so I don't and won't participate in that, though I did it once. I've been asked every year at Halloween time and give them my reason why not. They understand.

Just call your local PD for info. But you'll be Captain, trust me.:D
 
Neighborhood watches are extremly effective in protecting neighborhoods. We have one, have everyone's phone numbers in large letters near a phone. Have at least one neighbor's number on a cell phone in the bedroom.
Several neighbors have large curious dogs who won't allow anyone in their territory. All of our neighbors have firearms and everyone is a Vet. Perfect place to live these Army communities.
 
I guess I'm the neighborhood watch

By that, I mean I keep my eyes peeled out the windows, keep a NAA revolver in my pocket, and have the PD on speed-dial on my cellphone. If something doesn't look right, I call the PD first. It's only happened a couple of times, usually neighborhood juvies in the past 20 years. I have had one try to get into my house, but I keep my doors locked at all times. If he ever gets in here, he's going to get a lead salad. "Castle doctrine" law passed this year in Ohio, so anyone breaks in here, I shoot first and ask questions later.
 
Skeeter i to am the neighborhood watch for my street.I have placed several video camera's outside my home,not only to keep my family safe but to keep record of any wrong doing.So far to date i have turned in 14 video tapes to the police which have lead to a few arrests.I don't care who knows as long as they know that anything they do is being watched and recorded.I tend to like this kind of system because i don't have to get out of my chair to see whats going on outside up or down the street,just turn my tv in my livingroom or bedroom to video.Heck i even added a camera to see who is on my front porch knocking on my door.It works great for that pesky mother-in-law who insists on banging on the door.:eek:

See get you a camera or two and you will never have to worry about going to the door and being suprised again.:D
 
threefeathers said:
Several neighbors have large curious dogs who won't allow anyone in their territory. All of our neighbors have firearms and everyone is a Vet. Perfect place to live these Army communities.
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Reminds me of a pic I saw earlier this year...

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I really wish people were more friendly as a general rule. I've been renting a house for a year now and have only talked to my next door neighbor and a fella across the street. Seems everyone could really care less about their neighbors lately. Grandpa keeps telling me about growing up and not having a lock on his door, now look at us: always discussing HD tactics with our firearms...
 
Not much to add here from me. I'm the block capt. on my street for our watch. We do watch out for each other & so far no b & e's or home invasions near me.(Keeping my fingers crossed) Of course we can't rest on our laurels.
Neighbour watch means getting out & knowing your neighbours. Know what is suspicious in your neighbourhood and be ready to call 911. As for citizen patrols we are not doing that now.
 
"Neighbour watch means getting out & knowing your neighbours."
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I've done that, and fortunately for me, I've made good friends with my neighbors across the street who just happen to be cops. Between us, I think our block is going to remain relatively safe. Or so I hope. :rolleyes:
 
dabigguns357:

Can you give us more specifics on your video survailence system? I want one.

Where did you find the components?

How is set up?

What did it cost?

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Sure bob,all the systems i use i got from wal-mart cost only 78.96 out the door and came with 2 camera's,a reciever and a 4 channel remote.I now have a total of 6 camera's with audio and three recievers,one for each tv in my house.The reciever upstairs picks up just 2 camera's on the front porch.
Three camera's are in front,where 2 cris-cross paths and the third looks down at the front door.the next 2 are in my house,facing down at a angle above my bedroom door to see who is on the other side of my bedroom door and above the door to the kitchen looking down at the back door.The last camera is located out back facing my yard and alley.

All the camera's are wired/wireless,so i just hard wired them in.I hear a noise and all i have to do is hit the loop button on my remote and i can see every camera angle i have to see where the noise is coming from.These systems are so easy to install and run.All you have to do is place them where you want them with 3 little screws,then run wireless or do what i did and run extention cord to each one.you should be able to find them in your hardware section and if not try wal-mart on line.

run your recievers straite to your tv or run them to your vcr then through your tv so you can record everything.The hardest thing to do is to get the best reception for each reciever.the further space you put between your camera and reciever the more interferance you may get.Each camera can see up to 30 feet clearly using night vision and 45 to 50 feet in daylight.

I would recommend one in a heartbeat.It's great to see who is at your door with out even getting out of bed.it's like looking out any window in your house while you lay in bed.
 
These are the only guys who really watch my house.

Need my trusty companion to make sure they don't get out of hand;)watch.JPG
 
Easiest way to organize a neighborhood watch? Why, contact the police department. Get them to send out flyers and then meet at the station or some community center to discuss it as a group. Another way is to get the local fire department involved. They have something called NERT (Neighborhood Emergency Response Team). Members are instructed in basic First Aid, light search and rescue, how to turn off utilities, developing a check-list of neighbors to check-in on (elderly, disabled), emergency radio operation (getting your ham license), disaster readiness & recovery. From a NERT team you can organize a neighborhood watch.

Third way is a block party. Get to know your nieghbor and exchange emails and telephone #s. It would be a good to organize a mutual assistance pact to defend the neighborhood. It can start as something innoculous as keeping criminals out of the area or reporting suspicious activity to the police. From meeting with your neighbors, you can learn something of their background (law enforcement, fire fighter, EMT, soldier, marine) or job skills (necessary for repair of homes).

Either gives you a network that can readily be turned into a self-defense neighborhood group.
 
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