Neighborhood Watch

Neighborhood Watch is a crime prevention program that teaches citizens techniques to reduce the risk of being a victim at home or in public by training citizens on the importance of recognizing suspicious activities and how to report them. Residents learn how to make their homes more secure and properly identify their property. Neighborhood Watch allows neighbors to get to know each other and their routines so that any out of place activity can be reported and investigated.

Neighborhood Watch works because people want to assume a more active role in making their communities safe. Residents within a neighborhood know who belongs there and who doesn't and what activity is suspicious. Citizens will work with, instead of relying on, law enforcement to combat crime in their community.
The Neighborhood Watch Program is designed to improve the safety of the County through the participation of its residents.

How to Start a Neighborhood Watch For Your Neighborhood?

1. Contact your neighbors. Ask them if they would be interested in meeting. Your needs and interests should fit the uniqueness of your area and your neighbors. Stay flexible (meeting locations, frequency, topics, size, etc.)

2. Set up a location for your meeting to be held.

3. Contact Captain Jon Haugen or Sheriff Richard Ingram (423-3116) to make arrangements for a deputy to attend the meeting.

4. Notify interested neighbors. Let your neighbors know the time and location of your meeting.

5. At your first meeting, have everyone sign in the attendance sheet. Explain the value of Neighborhood Watch and address particular concerns and interests you have about your neighborhood. This can include filling out the "Map" - a list of names, addresses and phone numbers, which are reproduced and distributed to each of the member homes. Topics for future meetings can also be explored.

6. A telephone tree is also important and the information can be filled out at the first meeting.

Neighborhood Watch Is Not:

• A vigilante force working outside the normal procedures of law enforcement.
• A program designed for participants to take personal risks to prevent crime.
• A 100% guarantee that crime will not occur in your neighborhood.

ecognizing the importance of adopting an active stance in the fight against crime the Sheriff’s Office stands ready to provide information, assistance, training, and prevention inspections to all citizens of the county. D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) remains the most predominant educational program provided by the Sheriff’s Office. The D.A.R.E. program is a joint venture between the Sheriff’s Office and the School District. This program places unarmed, uniformed deputies into the classroom.

The Sheriff’s Office’s specially trained D.A.R.E. officers taught the elementary curriculum in the 6^th grade and a junior high curriculum in the 7^th grade. The curriculum is designed to provide students with the information and skills necessary to resist the complex types of pressure to which they may be exposed to become involved in drug abuse, the use of alcohol or tobacco, and to resist becoming involved in violence and gang activity. The program helps to instill positive life skills in the students, and encourages the achievement of positive goals.