I don't think there's any way to do that. But our Neighborhood watch is unarmed, and really, we aren't about patrols. We're about watching out our windows- making sure service people are there when they are supposed to be. Some burglars are coming in as gardeners- one guy mows your lawn while the other is ripping off your house. If you know when your neighbors expect their gardeners and other service people, you'll know when something isn't right. And as the police told us- never interfere yourself, call the police. And our mobile unit will not be armed. We just want him to be visible, and to call police if he sees something suspicious.
Much of the power of a neighborhood watch is harnessing the power of folks who are already home, already nosy, and who want to have something useful to do. Also, join Nextdoor.com. Our police highly recommend it. They send you a card in the mail to make sure you are who you say you are, and then you are allowed to join your private neighborhood group. In our area the police send direct information to groups on Nextdoor, and there are a lot of organizational tools available there. We also have used Facebook, and created a private group for our development, where I post the minutes of our watch meetings, and repost alerts the police send us via the neighborhood watch network, or on Nextdoor.com.
We found out something interesting at our meeting last week. Solicitors in our town are illegal if they are not licensed, and only two companies are licensed (both solar companies) so the police will come and hassle any solicitors who come to our doors! This is excellent news because 1. we hate solicitors, and 2, some of the burglars in our area were coming around as solicitors and were checking out houses that way. If my neighbors roust these folks with the police, my guess is they'll go and find some softer targets, and we will have the added benefit of not having morons bothering us at the door, even if they aren't burglars. |
