Neighborhood Watch means:

• Neighbors getting to know each other and working together in a program of mutual assistance.

• Citizens learning how to recognize and report suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.

People using proven crime prevention techniques like Operation I.D., "target hardening," and others.

How does Neighborhood Watch work?

You and your neighbors are the ones who are in a position to really know what goes on in your neighborhood. Ask yourself: Would a deputy sheriff recognize a stranger in your yard or a suspicious vehicle in your driveway? Maybe not. But your neighbors probably would!.

And that's what Neighborhood Watch is all about.

Organizing the eyes and ears of an entire neighborhood into a powerful, hard to penetrate, 24 hour-a-day barrier... protecting neighborhoods from crime.

And it Works!

Why? In cooperation with each other and local law enforcement agencies, members of an organized Neighborhood Watch group learn how to fight crime the most effective way--before it occurs!

Neighborhood Watch helps members to...

Improve the security of their homes, families, and personal belongings.
Recognize suspicious and unusual activity in their neighborhood.
Build a communications network that works to protect their neighborhoods.
Gain a feeling of genuine security through their ability to actually deter crime.

Is Neighborhood Watch Really Effective?

You bet it is! The reason is simple enough:

Desire...Opportunity...Ability

Criminals must have all three if they are to be successful.

Neighborhood Watch groups DENY criminals the OPPORTUNITY and ABILITY they need by reducing the criminal the chance to operate undetected.

All across the United States, wherever Neighborhood Watch groups are active, the reduction of crime has been substantial.. even dramatic!

Starting a Neighborhood Watch Group is Easy

First, get organized. Contact the Crime Prevention Unit of the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office at 564-3800. We'll help you get a Group started in your neighborhood.

Then, arrange a date, time and place for your first meeting. One of our crime prevention officers will be on hand to present the program to your group.

The officer will explain the Neighborhood Watch concept, talk about effective crime prevention techniques, and explain what it takes to make a Watch group really effective.

What's Expected of a Neighborhood Watch Member

• Develop a watchful, concerned attitude. Be aware of what's going on in your neighborhood.

• Report suspicious persons, vehicles and activities to the police immediately.

• Let someone in the Group know when your home will be unoccupied, and watch your neighbor's home when they are away.

• Participate in Operation I.D. and have an officer conduct a Security Survey of your home.

Attend regular meetings with other Watch group members.

And Remember...

Neighborhood Watch doesn't require frequent meetings or a loss of privacy. It doesn't ask that a group member take any personal risk. And, Neighborhood Watch leaves the responsibility for apprehending criminals where it belongs... with law enforcement.

Call the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Unit at 564-3800 or email Sgt. K. Dofflemyer at kdofflemyer@rockinghamcountyva.gov, and Take a Bite Out of Crime in your neighborhood...

Join Neighborhood Watch!