How to Start a Neighborhood Watch

Starting a neighborhood watch is an excellent way to provide you and your neighbors with an extra level of safety and security. With the economy in horrible shape and unemployment rates on the rise, now is certainly a good time to think about the security of your home.

If you want to start a neighborhood watch in your community, the first thing you need to determine is the exact area that your watch group is going to cover. Keep in mind that the larger your watch group's area, the larger your neighborhood watch group is going to be. This also means that you will need to have a space that is large enough to accommodate your members for regular meetings.

When you consider where your neighborhood watch meetings should be held, think about how many people are going to be included in your group. If it's too many people to fit comfortably in someone's house, then you will need to secure other arrangements for your regular meetings. A certain amount of expense may be involved with this type of arrangement, so you will need to consult with your other group members before making any type of financial commitment on behalf of your group.

Learn about Local Crime Rates

If you don't already know the overall crime rate in your designated neighborhood watch area, contact your local police department for this information. Once you know the crimes that occur most often in your neighborhood, it will help you (and your future group members) to create a more detailed plan of action when it comes to learning what to look for.

Your local police department should have a neighborhood watch coordinator. Once you find out who this person is, contact him or her and ask for some advice. The coordinator should be willing to set up a couple of different times to help you host your neighborhood watch meetings and can also give you some useful tips on how to operate a successful neighborhood watch organization.

Get the Word Out

You can't have a successful neighborhood watch group if none of your neighbors are willing to participate. If you don't really know any of your neighbors on a personal level, consider creating a flyer or brief brochure to distribute to them that explains what you are trying to do. Be sure to include crime statistics for your neighborhood so that everyone will realize how much of a need there is for a neighborhood watch. All too often, people make the mistake of believing that they live in a completely safe and secure area. Let your neighbors know what's really going on around them and they might just become enthusiastic members of your group.

Remain Active Within Your Group

All groups need not only active members to stay afloat, they also need active leaders. Once your neighborhood watch group has gotten started, make sure you schedule regular meetings and let your neighbors know about them well in advance. This will make it easier for everyone to make plans to attend.

You should plan on having at least semi-annual meetings regardless of how safe your neighborhood generally is. This will allow you the opportunity to present new information that may be of interest to your group members, and will also allow everyone the opportunity to participate actively in discussing any issues that concern the neighborhood.

If your neighborhood starts to go through a particularly rough period where crimes seem to increase, you might consider scheduling meetings more often than once or twice per year.

Once you have the basic details worked out concerning where and how often your group will meet, all you will need is the support and participation of your neighbors in order to make your neighborhood watch group a successful one.

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