Police Reactivate Neighborhood Crime Watch Program

By Andrew Gorosko

The police department has reactivated its Neighborhood Crime Watch program, which provides neighborhood groups with useful information on how to maintain safety and security in residential areas.

The police department’s three crime prevention officers –– Maryhelen McCarthy, David Kullgren, and Andrew Stinson –– recently gave a talk at Booth Library on organizing a crime watch program to about 30 residents from the Whitewood Road/Middleton Road neighborhood. Officers Kullgren and Stinson recently received specialized crime prevention training in Kentucky.

The Whitewood/Middleton subdivision contains about three dozen large, attractive houses, most of which are located on Whitewood Road. It was developed in the mid 1990s by Toll Brothers Inc. The neighborhood is located off Blackman Road, in the Mt Pleasant area.

Neighborhood resident Kim Ebert explained that the Whitewood/Middleton area already is a close-knit neighborhood. Residents there want to become better organized to make the area more secure, she said. Ms Ebert is one of the neighborhood organizers of the crime watch program.

A series of incidents that have occurred in the neighborhood have given some residents pause, prompting them to seek ways to make the area more secure.

The Whitewood/Middleton neighborhood is one of a half-dozen neighborhoods in town that have organized, or are in the process of organizing, crime watches. Other crime watch areas are Taunton Lake Road, Maltbie Road, Cobblers Mill Road, Pearl Street, and Juniper Road, police said. In town, approximately 175 families currently are actively involved in crime watch programs. There are also a number of neighborhoods where crime watches formerly were in effect. Police seek to limit the size of individual crime watch programs to about 40 families.

At the recent crime watch session, Whitewood/Middleton residents had an opportunity to meet or to reacquaint themselves with one another, in seeking to create bonds that would aid them operate their crime watch program. The program is based on neighbors watching out for one another’s interests in the event that there is suspicious activity in their neighborhood, and alerting police about that suspicious activity.

Neighborhoods that participate in the program have “Neighborhood Crime Watch” street signs prominently posted, stating that residents are on the lookout for suspicious activity.

The police crime prevention officers’ goal is to educate as many residents as possible, as much as possible, about the various aspects of crime prevention, Officer Kullgren said. The program’s goals are personal safety and property security.

The program seeks to make its participants better observers of suspicious activity, who provide police with accurate information that aids them in investigating problems, he said.

Officer Stinson urged neighbors at the crime watch session to contact police for help in dealing with their safety and security issues. Police are available to speak to neighborhood groups, as well as civic groups in explaining crime prevention.

Officers Kullgren and Stinson focus their efforts on the Neighborhood Crime Watch program. Officer McCarthy specializes in the Triad program, which involves crime prevention for the elderly.

Ms Ebert said the crime watch program is a worthwhile effort that Whitewood/Middleton residents need to establish for their mutual benefit. Formally organizing such a program through the police department is beneficial, she said.

 The neighborhood has encountered situations including the theft of shrubbery, the sale of furniture from a tractor-trailer truck, a drug bust, the presence of solicitors, and the appearance of people seeking money from residents, she noted.

“We just need to be aware of what’s going on in our neighborhood [and] protect our children and our houses,” she said.

The crime prevention officers explained the mechanics of setting up a crime watch.

“The whole point of this is education and communication,” Officer Stinson said. He urged that at least 75 percent of the residents in a neighborhood participate in a crime watch to make it a success.

The more information on suspicious activity that participants provide to police, the more that it will help police solve problems, he said.

Police have limited staff to patrol the town, and there are times when things get quite busy, Officer Kullgren said. “We need educated citizens to help us,” he said. Continued commitment among crime watch participants is important, he noted.   

As part of the crime watch program, police will make security reviews of homes to explain how residences can be made more secure from crime, he said.

 Subjects in the police’s crime prevention program includes personal safety, self defense, child safety, CPR and first aid, gangs, drugs, vandalism prevention, fire prevention, annoying telephone calls, victim-witness services, observation skills, bicycle safety, fraud and con games, theft prevention, safety tips for seniors, auto safety, latchkey kids, automatic teller machine precautions, car-jacking, holiday precautions, home security, recognizing substance abuse, and graffiti prevention.

Groups interested in having a Neighborhood Crime Watch informational session may contact Officer McCarthy, Kullgren, or Stinson at the police station at 3 Main Street, telephone 426-5841.