October is Crime Prevention Month. What better time to start a blog dedicated to Neighborhood Watch programs in the area?
In the upcoming weeks and months, I'll be posting what hopefully will be useful and timely tips for keeping your families, your homes and your communities safe. I'll also take an opportunity or two to provide updates on Neighborhood Watch activities.
In a perfect world, we'd live in communities where there is no vandalism, no property damage, no theft, and everyone looks out for everyone else. The reality is that we don't live in a perfect world and crime does exist. Sometimes it's closer to home than we think. Many times it's right next door.
While our law enforcement agencies do their best to keep the worst of the criminals out of our communities and behind bars, the police can't be on every street at all times. That's where neighborhood watch comes in. Neighborhood watch can be the eyes and ears for local law enforcement at the neighborhood block level. Communicating with your neighbors regarding suspicious individuals and activities, and reporting instances of vandalism, theft and other crimes to the police can be the key to building strong relationships with your neighbors and helping the police aprehend criminals they might not already have information about.
Does your community have a neighborhood watch program? If it does, I would encourage you to volunteer if you are able. If it doesn't, why not start one? There are many resources available to groups wishing to start a watch. Contacting the Montgomery Police Department is a good start. If you're not sure a watch program exists in your neighborhood, post a comment and I'll do my best to find out and get you in contact with the coordinators.
Here's a link to more October Crime Prevention Month information:
http://www.ncpc.org/programs/celebrate-safe-communities/
Thank you to Andre Salles for granting us access to the Patch blogs. Thanks also to the dedicated individuals in Neighborhood Watch programs in Foxmoor/Fairfield Way and Lakewood Creek West for helping to get this blog started.
Be safe!
