A follow-up question The Trio asks in connection with their NW blog of 9-11-10, is “Why Neighborhood Watch?” The following statement appears on the Petaluma Police Department’s website:
- There can’t be an officer on every block so citizen involvement is essential to combat crime.
- You and your neighbors are the ones who really know what is going on in your community.
- By cooperating with each other and the police, people can help fight crime in their community in the most effective way – before it begins!
- Neighborhood Watch members place stickers in their windows and Neighborhood Watch signs on the streets, warning criminals that they are in an active Neighborhood Watch Community, and that “neighbors are watching out for each other”.
- Get to know some of the officers working your area
- Learn: (a) How to prevent burglaries, auto theft, assaults, elder abuse; (b) Safety strategies for: children, women, disabled and the traveling public; (c)How to be the eyes and ears of the police; (d) How to report a crime and give descriptions; (e) How to assist in a police investigation.
To get more information on Neighborhood Watch contact a Community Services Officer at nwatch@ci.petaluma.ca.us, or contact the Street Crimes Unit at (707) 778-4477.
Eagle-Eyes wants to remind all Petalumans that creating Neighborhood Watch groups is a major component of the NERT model field tested between 2006-2008,and is incorporated in the final version of the ALERT report titled, An Emergency Readiness & Disaster Preparedness Blueprint for the Greater Petaluma Area. The ALERT model of 2008 may be viewed online at … http://petalumanert.org/content/blogsection/4/26/
Stay tuned as The Trio, along with Eagle-Eyes, continue to feed Hammerhead significant disaster preparedness information during the 2010 National Preparedness Month sponsored by FEMA and Citizen Corps. Additional information about this national initiative is available online … http://www.fema.gov and http:/www.citizencorps.gov