Why Join Neighborhood Watch?

The best crime prevention device ever invented is a good Neighbor!

We hear about it on the news, read about it in the newspapers, and sometimes even see it on our streets and you ask, “What, as citizens, can we do to prevent burglary, arson, vandalism, assaults, and drug trafficking?” Although you may not be a victim of crime, you know it’s getting closer and the impact of it is becoming a reality. How can you become more resistant to crime?

Being proactive is the first step in combating crime. Neighbors in communities across the country are joining together to discourage local crime. By cooperating with each other and local law enforcement agencies, people can help fight crime in their community the most effective way – before it begins and as it happens. We call this program “Neighborhood Watch.”

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Neighborhood Watch program is designed to encourage county residents to assist one another in their own protection. The key to the program is cooperation among Neighbors and the Sheriff’s Department. If we know what to look for and what to do about it, we are our own best defense against crime.

Neighborhood Watch is simply when we, as neighbors, look out for each other. It is a self-help crime prevention program that can successfully reduce the incidence not only of burglary, but of other crimes as well.

The active participation of citizens in cooperation with law enforcement to reduce crime involves:
Neighbors getting to know each other and working together in a program of mutual assistance;
Citizens being trained to recognize and report suspicious activities in their own neighborhoods; and
Implementation of crime prevention techniques such as home security and operation identification.

Through Neighborhood Watch, participants are educated in the principles of deterrence, delay, and detection. The program depends on a communication network organized with three levels of participants: The resident, neighborhood watch coordinators/co-coordinators, and a Crime Prevention Officer from the Sheriff’s Department.

REMEMBER: The Deputies cannot be everywhere at once, but the Neighborhood Watch network can. You can be your own best defense in the fight against crime!