Subject: How to Start Your Own Neighborhood Watch
Hello NAME,
Working
together with your neighbors builds a sense of community and helps reduce
crime. If your neighborhood does not yet have a neighborhood watch group here
are some simple tips to help you get started.
Start the conversation. Begin by talking with your
neighbors about putting together a neighborhood watch. Find out who is
interested and recruit them.
Contact your local Sheriff’s Department and Schedule a
Meeting. It is a great idea to have the Sheriff’s department attend and
present at your first meeting. If they are unable to make it make sure you stay
in close communication with them. It is important to collaborate with your
local Sheriff’s Department.
Invite your neighbors to the meeting. Set a meeting
date and time that works best for most. Try to avoid weekends. Usually weekday
evenings are best. Put together an invitation and deliver to neighbors two
weeks before the meeting. Recruit a few volunteers to help you distribute the
invitations to the neighborhood.
Host your first meeting and create a plan. At your
first meeting you will want to discuss the main concerns of the neighborhood and
how to address those concerns. This would be a good time to also establish who
will be the leaders of the group, the block captains, the law enforcement
liaison, and who will handle communications for the group.
Create a communication plan. As a group you will need
to decide the best methods for communication such as text, email, a Facebook
group or page, and meetings.
Next, register your group. You can go to https://nnw.org/user to create an account for
your watch group. If you have questions you can email nw@sheriffs.org.
Host meetings and events. There are a lot of great
resources for your meetings and events that can be found athttps://www.nnw.org/toolkit. You will
want to put together meetings and events that help address the concerns of the
neighborhood that were laid out in the plan from the first meeting. Here are a
few examples of the types of
presentations and events you can host: Back to School Safety, Holiday Safety,
Crime Prevention, First Aid Training.
Warmly,
XXXXXXXX
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