The goal of Yarmouth Neighborhood Crime Watch is to build strong neighborhoods and help YPD Chief Frederickson “Make Yarmouth the Safest Community in the region”. While reporting suspicious activity and assisting the police, is a key component of the program, YNCW is much more than just crime reporting. We encourage neighborhoods to get to know and watch out for each other and we provide tools and training to facilitate this. The basis of our program is recruiting a point person in each neighborhood who is willing to be the facilitator and help train and communicate to their block. We call this person a block captain and we will provide training and support to build your block. Strong neighborhoods that communicate with each other are key to building a safe community. The police department alone cannot do this without citizen involvement. Safety and making Yarmouth a desirable place to live and visit is everyone’s responsibility. This is an excellent way to give back to your community.
Neighborhoods that have homeowners’ associations are great areas to start a block. You probably already have contact information for your neighborhood and scheduled meetings. You are 80% of the way there, invite us to one of your meetings and we can help get a block started.
Reporting Suspicious Activity
As mentioned, one activity is helping the police department by reporting suspicious activity. The people in the neighborhood are in the best position to recognize suspicious activity. Residents know who works, who lives off cape, who is on vacation, etc. Often people are reluctant to call in suspicious activity for fear of it being a false alarm, or not wanting to get involved. A large part of our program is education on how, when, what and why to report so we overcome this reticence. YPD would much rather investigate, even if it turns out to be nothing, rather than miss an opportunity to prevent or stop a crime, or help someone in need.
Communication in the Neighborhood
The other part of our mission is getting the people in the neighborhood to know and watch out for each other. Knowing your neighbor and having their contact information builds a strong neighborhood. Sharing vacation schedules, work hours, etc. allows neighbors to watch each other’s property and help prevent problems. This includes more than crime prevention, but things like storm damage, power outages, frozen pipes, etc. The block captain will have a list of neighborhood contacts and will be able to share things that are relevant to the neighborhood. Knowing your neighbors will also help provide rides to appointments for those who don’t drive, wellness checks on elderly who live alone, etc.
Advantages to the Neighborhood
- Increased communication with YPD. The more they know about your neighborhood and, the more citizens know about how and when to report, increases safety.
- Increased sense of security since you know others are watching out for you.
- Increased community pride.
- Lower crime rates. There have been several cases of citizen reporting leading to arrests.
- Increased property values. Lower crime rates and friendly neighborhoods make Yarmouth a more desirable place to live and visit.
Advantages to the Block Captain
- Satisfaction of giving back to your community.
- Get to meet and know your neighbors.
- Get to meet many of the great YPD employees.
- Meet other block captains and learn about other areas of town.