ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – If you’ve ever asked, “What can I do about crime where I live?” then here’s what law enforcement recommends: starting or getting involved in a Neighborhood Watch.
What is that? What does it require? And how do you start one?
The Starlight Ranch Mobile Home Park got answers directly from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s Crime Prevention Unit. Starlight Ranch is in Sector 2 of Orange County, the northeast corner.
Resident Vern Olsen called the Crime Prevention Unit for help after feeling helpless.
“The activities I’ve seen here — drug-related, shootings — I’m beginning to not feel as safe as when I first got here,” Olsen said. “I walked down my street, two guys tried to break into every car that was going by.”
Orange County Crime Prevention Unit Master Deputy Sherrie Lewis spent her evening with Olsen and his neighbors at Starlight Ranch’s Community Center to teach them how to start a Neighborhood Watch.
“We are here because all of you here have shown interest in having a neighborhood watch in your neighborhood,” Lewis told the room full of neighbors.
How many neighbors do you need to get started? Not many at all.
“You have about 700 homes, technically it’s going to take about 70 people to make sure everything is OK, but we know that’s not realistic. Why?” Lewis said. “Because we have lives.”
What’s required of a Neighborhood Watch Group?
“All that’s required is you have a few dedicated captains — we call them block captains,” Lewis said. “All they’re responsible for — is two or three blocks and responsible for maybe 20 homes.”
What do block captains do? Be nosy neighbors.
“If you’re out walking your dog at 7:30 at night, guess what you’re doing?” Lewis said. “You’re looking and observing what’s going on. You’re seeing if there’s a car with two kids sitting in it maybe doing whatever, you may be looking to see whatever, that’s just seeing something.”
When you do see something, who do you call? 911. Always. Let the dispatcher decide if it’s an emergency.
“It is solely a ‘see something, say something’ program,” Lewis said. “If you see something, you report it. You report it to 911. Because we can use additional eyes and ears as to what’s going on in our community. We’re not looking for that person to go jump in their car and go run behind a car speeding through their neighborhood.”
The most important step in starting a Neighborhood Watch Group, according to Lewis, is finding out who lives next to you.
“I’m not saying go introduce yourself to all 700 neighbors, but at least the people to the left and right and across the street,” Lewis said. “We don’t require anything else, we don’t require a log or a sign in. See something, say something.”
If you want to get in touch with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s Crime Prevention Unit or inquire about starting a Neighborhood Watch Group, click here.
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