Since Sept. 11, the Sheriff’s Office has aimed to revitalize Neighborhood Watch in the county’s neighborhoods for two reasons.
"People asked what they can do to help. Neighborhood Watch is a way to have people contribute something to the security of their neighborhoods," said Sgt. Rick Frye, supervisor of the Community Policing Section of the Sheriff’s Office, which until now handled the Neighborhood Watch program. Deputies Terry Davis and Ed Piefer have been assigned as crime prevention deputies to oversee the program in new positions started on Jan. 1. "We’ve entered into a different age where we need to be more aware of our surroundings," Frye said.
Neighborhood Watch aims to help neighbors feel safer at the same time as providing extra help for law enforcement. The program asks participants to report suspicious activities or people and anything they hear or see out of the ordinary in an effort to help reduce residential crime. The residents do not provide any hands-on law enforcement in their reporting.
"Nobody knows better when something is out of place than the people who live there," said Sheriff Stephen Simpson. "Having extra eyes and ears … helps us a great deal."
BEFORE SEPT. 11, 2001, the county had five active Neighborhood Watch programs, compared to 16 active programs now, 90 percent of which are east of Goose Creek. The Sheriff’s Office is trying to revitalize another 26 programs by initiating meetings with block captains and residents in each of the neighborhoods.
In October 2002, Deputy Tom Mengel started up a Neighborhood Watch program in Countryside, where he served as a community police officer for the seven neighborhoods there. "The biggest thing is getting the involvement of the neighborhood," he said.
Mengel sent out 2,500 letters about the program and received 40 responses back, which he described as being "low." He originally wanted to establish a seven-member committee with one member for each neighborhood and find street leaders for each street in the neighborhoods to plan events and help disseminate information. He had about 10 people show up at each meeting for the meetings he held from October to December before he turned the program over to crime prevention.
"I had a lot of people want to be members, but that was as much of a role they wanted to take in it," Mengel said.
The Sheriff’s Office has to act as "a kind of cheerleader to get these groups going," Frye said. "It brings neighbors together, and it involves the community in a group effort to improve the quality of life in their community. … It bonds communities. That reason alone is enough to increase security."
"It’s a good deterrent to let residents know they are being watched," Simpson said.
DEPUTIES MEET with residents once a month in an active Neighborhood Watch program. The deputies work closely with residents assigned to committees and as block captains. The block captains serve as a liaison between law enforcement and residents and help deputies plan and conduct meetings. The block captains and committee are tasked with preparing and distributing a map of the block or neighborhood and maintaining a neighborhood data sheet with phone numbers, addresses and other information.
The deputy's role involves notifying residents of any crime trends and patterns in the neighborhood, providing crime awareness training and handing out program materials, including signs, decals, vehicle stickers and visual aides.
The Neighborhood Watch program is conducted on three levels, including passive observation suited for moderately dense to dense neighborhoods; walking patrols to involve residents pairing up to look for suspicious activities; and mobile patrols suited for rural areas.
"We can’t be everywhere at once," Frye said.
Mengel said, "When you get the involvement, it’s positive for everybody. We get information from them and their involvement helps reduce crime."
Neighborhoods interested in starting a Neighborhood Watch program are asked to collect signatures of interested community members, then contacting the Sheriff’s Office.