Community Corner

Trustee, Police Hope to Expand Neighborhood Watch Program

The west side program - now in six west side subdivisions - has been shown to reduce crime and bring neighborhoods together.

Before he was a village trustee, Stan Bond was just the new guy in town.

He and his wife Marion moved into the Foxmoor subdivision, on Montgomery’s west side, in 2004. At that time, he said, incidents of vandalism, loitering and other petty crimes were “skyrocketing.” So three years ago, he helped to start a Neighborhood Watch program, the first on the west side.

It took a year, he said, to get to 70 percent of the homeowners in Foxmoor and Fairfield Way to join up. But now, he says, 78 percent of Fairfield Way is on board, and 74 percent in Foxmoor. The neighborhood is safer, he said, and reports to the police have dropped down to “almost nothing.”

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And more than that, the program has brought the neighborhood together. With more than 670 homes on the email and phone list, and a flourishing Facebook group, residents of Fairfield Way and Foxmoor are now more in touch with their neighbors, and have created a network to watch each other’s backs.

There are six Neighborhood Watch groups on the west side now. And it’s working, according to the . Sgt. Adam Kuncl attended a community-wide Neighborhood Watch meeting at McDole Elementary School last week, and praised the ongoing efforts.

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“I live in Fairfield Way, so I’ve seen the before and after,” Kuncl said. “I can tell you with the utmost degree of certainty that you guys are doing a good job.”

Kuncl mentioned a recent incident, in which Neighborhood Watchers spotted and reported a peeping tom, as proof that the system works. The lurker was discovered during one of the group’s regular “walkabouts” through the subdivisions.

According to Ben Brzoska, who maintains the walkabout email list, members of the Neighborhood Watch group wear reflective vests, carry flashlights, and patrol the common areas.

They don’t apprehend anyone, or put themselves in harm’s way, Bond said, but they call the police if needed. And Bond provides an incident report form on his Neighborhood Watch website, neighborhoodwatch.montgomerymatters.com.

The Fairfield Way-Foxmoor Neighborhood Watch has been so successful, Bond said, that it’s been named a finalist in the National Sheriff’s Association's annual contest.

Bond is hoping to spread the program as far and wide as he can. The regular community-wide meetings, he said, are designed to bring in those west-side areas without Neighborhood Watch programs, and get them on board. And he’s hoping to revive some of the dormant Watch programs on the east side as well.

That’s why the community-wide meetings are important, he said. The idea is to make everyone feel welcome, and though attendance was down last week, he said the meetings draw well from all over the west side.

The meetings usually feature guest speakers. Last week, Jamie Mosser of the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office explained how to spot the signs of domestic violence, and how to prevent cyberbullying. (The Illinois Attorney General’s office will present a similar program on cyberbullying at 6:30 p.m. on June 6 at , 200 N. River Street.)

But most importantly, Bond said, they get residents involved in the Watch program, and connecting with other subdivisions around the village. The goals, he said, are to reduce crime, and also to reduce the opportunity for crime. Criminals know, he said, not to test their luck in areas like Foxmoor and Fairfield Way now.

“We’re trying to pull the whole community together,” he said.

For more information on joining the Neighborhood Watch program, log onto Bond’s website.


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