NCJ Number
97423
Date Published
1981
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This videocassette emphasizes the importance of organized community participation in helping to prevent burglaries and other neighborhood crimes. Community crime prevention programs in Fairfax County, Va.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Washington, D.C., are described and assessed.
Abstract
Neighborhood watch programs in the Potomac Hills community of McLean, Va., and in Phoenix, Ariz., were prompted by high rates of burglaries in these communities. The Potomac Hills program uses citizen patrol in CB-equipped cars in both day and evening hours. A driver and observer watch for suspicious cars and people. When suspicious activity is observed, the police are called. In the Phoenix program, citizens patrol in golf carts with an official police marking. The participating citizens are deputized, with the assigned duty to report to the police any suspicious activity. Cars entering the community without neighborhood stickers are observed and often stopped for an inquiry about their purpose in the neighborhood. The neighborhood watch program in an inner city neighborhood of Washington, D.C., was occasioned by heavy drug trafficking and use in the community. The program relies upon citizen foot patrols and the education of residents in the observation of suspicious activity. Like the other programs, it is designed to increase citizen reporting of possible crimes. Police officials interviewed consider the programs successful in reducing neighborhood crime. The videocassette also includes interviews with convicted burglars regarding factors that deter or invite burglaries.