Our new North Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator is ready to start meeting with us! Mary Amberg can help start block watches, come talk about crime prevention at meetings, and do home security assessments. Her contact info is at the bottom. Here’s a flyer she handed out at the NPAC meeting:
Block Watch is a program based on the principle that neighbors working together are the first and best line of defense against crime.
How Does Block Watch Work?
Block Watch requires two basic commitments:
- A commitment to be concerned about your neighbor’s property and well-being as well as your own.
- A commitment to report suspicious activity and take action by alerting your neighbors and calling 9-1-1.
Is Block Watch a Lot of Extra Work?
Block Watch doesn’t require you to perform any special tasks, go to a lot of meetings, or take on extra responsibilities. You don’t have to patrol the neighborhood, or spy on your neighbors.
Block Watch requires that you and your neighbors be familiar enough with each other to recognize when something suspicious is going on. Block Watch involves being alert. Make this a part of your everyday life. When you see something suspicious, alert your neighbors and the police.
How Do I Get a Block Watch Started?
Contact our Crime Prevention Coordinator – see below – for potential dates and times to have the coordinator meet with you and your neighbors. Once you have a date, place and time that works for you, invite your neighbors to come. It helps to invite all the neighbors in person. The meeting does not necessarily have to be at your home or a neighbor’s home; it could be at the local library, community center, school or church. The number of households and the size of the area you want to include are up to you.
At the initial meeting you’ll discuss area crime, crime trends, prevention measures and proactive things that neighbors can do to positively impact public safety. The Crime Prevention Coordinator will bring printed resource materials for you and your neighbors. A sign-up sheet gets passed around for neighbors to list their contact information (name, address, phone, email). The sheet becomes the basis for your block watch map or telephone tree.
For additional information and support for your block watch, follow this link: http://www.seattle.gov/police/blockwatch
Or please contact our North Seattle Crime Prevention Coordinator:
Mary Amberg
206-684-7711
mary.amberg@seattle.gov
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