Neighborhood Watch

Neighborhood Watch

Neighborhood Watch is a crime prevention concept that calls for citizens to watch out for their neighbors' property. Knowing this, criminals are generally unwilling to risk detection, so they either don't commit the crime or go elsewhere. The Neighborhood Watch Program serves as a network through which the Police Department can collect and disseminate information on crime. It has been proven that in neighborhoods where citizens have joined together to look out for each other's safety, the incidence of burglaries and other crimes against property has been significantly reduced.

Neighborhood Watch is designed to prevent, detect, and report crimes. Enforcement action is always left to the Police Department.

Neighborhood Watch signs alert criminals that residents are concerned about crime and will call the police when suspicious activity is observed. However, signs alone are of little deterrent value when not backed up by an actively patrolling Neighborhood Watch Program. The establishment of a Neighborhood Watch Program in a low-crime area is added assurance it will remain safe. Crime is rarely stationary and often moves from one neighborhood to another.

Citizen Patrol: The purpose of community patrol is to use highly visible citizen observers to deter crime. Patrol members report crimes and suspicious situations to the police. Join with your neighbors in volunteering your eyes and your ears on a regular basis to watch your neighborhood and report anything suspicious to the Fairfax County Police Department. Thieves and vandals are likely to go elsewhere when they know Neighborhood Watch is "all eyes" for them!

To learn about starting a neighborhood watch in your community vist: https://www.nnw.org/