CITIZEN'S CRIME WATCH
Neighborhood
Crime Watch
Program
Citizens’ Crime Watch is a nonprofit county-wide crime prevention program funded by the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, grants and donations. When neighborhood watch is fully operative, you and your neighbors become the “Eyes and Ears” of the local police department, telephoning the police at the first hint of suspicious activity.
Citizens’ Crime Watch organizes neighborhoods of single-family homes, condominiums and town houses throughout Miami-Dade County and its Municipalities. The program teaches members techniques to reduce the risk of being victimized at home, in their vehicles and in public places. It also trains members to the importance of recognizing suspicious activities; evaluate them and how to properly report them. Citizens learn about the local police department needs and establish a working relationship. They create a phone chain to communicate with neighbors in times of urgency. The Neighborhood Crime Watch program is for residents in our community who want to prevent crime from happening in their area.
How to Start a Neighborhood
Crime Watch
STEP 1
Your Call
When a resident calls our office, we take a request for service listing all their information and concerns so we may schedule a meeting with the neighbors and the appropriate law enforcement agency.
STEP 2
Meeting
The meetings are held in the evenings during the week, normally at 7 p.m., a good time for most to be home from work.
The meeting preferably is held in the neighborhood at someone’s home. This way people can just walk to the location. This has been found across the country to be much more effective since the objective is to meet and get to know your neighbors. Now in some areas, this part may not be possible due to crime issues, in these instances the meetings are held in a safe location nearby.
STEP 3
Meeting Date Set
Once a meeting date has been established with the police officer and the resident hosting the meeting, a flier and brochure are provided to be distributed to all the neighbors. This is to inform every one of the meeting; the brochure speaks to the implementation of Neighborhood Watch.
STEP 4
Night of the Meeting
The night of the meeting, the law enforcement officer and someone from our office attends. The officer provides information regarding crime trends, crime statistics, what their role is as a community officer and what their department is doing to assist the community. Our Coordinator informs the residents when and how to call the police, what is needed when calling the police about a suspicious person or vehicle and answers questions that residents may have.
STEP 5
Explanation
Our coordinator explains how to set up a phone chain — a collection of phone numbers, addresses and special needs or information pertinent to their homes. When the phone chain is completed, it is shared with all the neighbors participating in the crime watch.
This is the most crucial part of Neighborhood Watch because it’s how everyone stays in touch. We also provide crime prevention training materials.
Once the above is completed and the Neighborhood Watch is organized, we then provide Crime Watch signs and house decals. All of this is free because we are funded by your tax dollars.
