neighbourhood watch

Neighbourhood Watch

Association of St. Albert

www.eyewatch.info

Working Together to Prevent Crime

• Neighbourhood Watch is a community based program.

• Neighbourhood Watch provides a means of reducing the opportunity for crime to occur through active participation of citizens working together in a crime prevention program that will provide a more secure and safe place to live every day.

MissionStatement

• Coordinated effort between the community and police.

• Taking ownership of your Neighbourhood by getting to know your Neighbours.

• Reducing opportunities for crime to occur.

• Encouraging awareness and reporting any suspicious activities in your Neighbourhood.

Method

• Police Coordinator (R.C.M.Police)

• Board of Directors• Area Leader• Block Captain• Watch Member

Organization

PoliceCoordinator

• Provides the expertise necessary for initiating the program and monitoring it.

• Develops program guidelines, establishes target areas and supplies resource material

• Establishes training programs on how to identify and report any suspicious activity

The Boardof Directors

• The Board of Directors is a volunteer group whose primary function is to develop the various programs and assist in their implementation.

• President• Vice President• Treasurer• Secretary• 5 Board members• Police Liaison

The Boardof Directors

Area Leader

•17 Residential areas in St. Albert•One or more Area Leaders for an area

Duties of an Area Leader

• Maintain liaison with the Board of Directors and/or Police Coordinator

• Monitor the progress of the program in their zone

• Recruit Block Captains and community members

• Promote the program to the community

The Block Captain

• Coordinates the activities of the citizens who join Neighbourhood Watch on their block or territory

• Welcomes new neighbours and provides information about Neighbourhood Watch

The Block Captain

• Encourages participation and serves as a liaison between watch members and Police

• Promotes incentives for watch member to monitor and report suspicious activity in their neighbourhood

Watch Members• Neighbours helping

neighbours to prevent criminal activity from happening in their neighbourhoods

What can I do?

• Think about your own protection• Record and mark your property

so it can be easily identified if stolen

• Secure obvious points of entry • Notify neighbours when you are

away

Record your possessions• Make a list of items in your home• Mark your operators license number

on valuable items with an engraver• Take photographs or make video

recordings of individual items• Store the property list and photos in

a secure place, where a fire won’t destroy it

Home Security• Secure all obvious points of entry to

your home (doors and windows)• Install break resistance shielding or

bars on windows accessible from the ground (basement windows)

• Install good quality dead bolt locks on doors

NotifyNeighbours

• Let neighbours know when you will be away

• When neighbours know you are away they will not ignore unusual activity at your home

The Good Neighbour Policy

• Neighbours can help make your home appear as if someone is home– Check and take in mail, trash cans,

newspaper etc.– Check your home, turn lights on

and off– Cut the lawn, look after pets

Two WayStreet

• The Good Neighbour Policy works both ways especially when dealing with suspicious activities that appear in your neighbourhood

Look afteryour Neighbours

• Be aware of what is going on in your Neighbourhood

• Report any criminal or suspicious activity to the police at 458-7700 or 911 in emergencies

• Don’t worry about “bothering” the police - your report could stop or solve a crime

Howto report

• Call the police• Identity yourself as a

Neighbourhood Watch member• Give your name, address and

phone number• Describe what happened with as

much detail as possible

Howto report

• Report any injuries• Description of suspicious

person(s)• Description of Suspicious

vehicle(s)• Stay on the phone until advised

by police

SuspectIdentification

Even at a distance certain features will assist police in an investigation

Sex, Age, Clothing are all important in locating and identifying suspects

Vehicle Identification

• Try to obtain as much information as possible

Follow-up

• If you don’t receive a follow-up report from the investigating officer, contact your block captain or area leader to check into the occurrence.

AnEye Catcher

• If you see something different or out of the ordinary, but don’t feel it is something you would report to the police, make note of it on an incident report and pass it on to your block captain.

NeighbourhoodWatch Works

• Encourage People to become Members

• The system works best if at least 50% of the homes on your block participate

• Break-ins usually occur at the rear or side of residences. Your neighbours have the best view to these vulnerable points

• Neighbourhood Watch doesn’t cost anything or take

much of your time

STOPCRIME

BEFORE YOU ARE A VICTIM

JOIN NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH