Neighborhood_Watch_Paper

Neighborhood watch research paper Sandra Haynesworth CJA/314 09/2/2011 University of Phoenix Neighborhood Watch Research Paper The design for the neighborhood watch was selected after a long research with the different programs. This program was developed with getting the people of the neighborhood involved in taking back their communities from crime. The first part was getting the people of the community to care enough about their neighborhood to call in crimes they have seen. The local police have to have an active role with the neighborhoods and their watch coordinators. Setting up a good phone tree with the other parts of the community, and the center point being the coordinators of the watch program. This design can use many communities in the system, each with their own watch coordinators. The local police will have a group of officers that are part of the community policing program. This program goes with the neighborhood watch as the liaison between the community and the police. The neighborhood should set up meetings with the groups that are participating exchange phone numbers and email addresses then have the watch coordinator start putting all the information together to turn over to the police. Community policing starts with the community, the more they get involved the better they can make their community and the less likely it would be targeted for crime. Social Disorganization Theory applies to the support of many neighborhood watch programs in many aspects. America has always been known as the land of the free and a safe haven for a new life for immigrants trying to settle in America. When every population increase so does violence and crime. States like New York, Illinois, and Florida are some of the few states with high velocity of crime. Social Disorganization Theory states that people that are displaced almost finds a way to be attracted to connect with groups of people that understand them or the feeling of belonging. We mainly see this trend among our young generation which leads them to illegal activities and some gang violence. I believe that the mayor should go forth with the proposal of a neighborhood watch program not only for the protection of our community but for the young individuals that are looking for this negative way out. With these patrols we could enforce a curfew which would have our kids in during a certain time and focus on the bad influences that are detouring our kids from the right way of passage. Another major part of this theory is the strain part. Strain theory is believed that when people don’t have certain means they turn to criminal activities. This could work toward our advantage if we pay close attention to the strain theory by providing jobs for neighborhood families. If we can get funding we pay individuals for their serviced by not only making our watch patrol employed but also proud to walk and protect their neighborhoods. People generally want to belong to positive things and also feel like they matter it helps out both neighborhoods and family life also. Our kids can go outside and play because they have the sense of security that they are being looked after. The fact that all of our communities are made of diverse individuals we are also breaking down that language barrier also. Most of the time it’s the simple missed understanding of words that can tear our communities apart, because we may not understand someone language but with a diverse patrol we can tend to the needs and concerns to everyone. People wouldn’t afraid to speak out towards illegal drug dealing, murders and thefts. We have good citizens in our cities but have lost the way of life because of crime in our neighborhoods. This watch we not only benefit us as community but also the support of community policing. The Neighborhood Watch is taken from the crime and prevention strategy. Neighborhood Watch is often implemented as part of a comprehensive package sometimes referred to as the big three that includes Neighborhood Watch, property-marking, and home security surveys (Titus, 1984). Some programs include other elements such as a recruitment drive for special constables (no sworn police officers), increased regular foot patrols, citizen patrols, and educational programs for young people and auxiliary police units. The funding of Neighborhood Watch programs is nearly always a joint venture between the local police department and the program members through their fund-raising activities. The relative contribution of the two sources varies considerably. Some programs in the United States are provided with no more than an information package from the local police. Others are provided with police facilities for the production of newsletters and the use of police premises for meetings (Turner and Barker, 1983). Apart from police funding, the majority of programs are encouraged to raise some funds from other sources such as voluntary contributions, local businesses, and the proceeds of fairs, raffles and bake sales. The crime and prevention strategy works well with the neighborhood watch, by having the entire community together working closely and doing their best to protect their community. Crime and prevention is a very important strategy and the neighborhood and community watch program is the anchor of this strategy because it puts citizens on the front lines of crime fighting. The neighborhood watch is a proven strategy in crime prevention; criminals tend to stay away from areas where the community is involved in policing their own neighborhood. Neighborhood Watch has often been described as one of the most widespread methods of reducing crime. It is supported by the UK and United States governments and is popular among the public and the police (Sims, 2001). Neighborhood Watch might also lead to a reduction in crime through the various mechanisms of social control. Informal social control typically is not stated as one of the mechanisms for reducing crime in the publicity material of these programs, they might indirectly serve to enhance community cohesion and increase the ability of communities to control crime (Greenberg, Roe, and Williams, 1985). Informal social control can affect community crime through the generation of acceptable norms of behavior and by direct intervention by residents. The neighborhood watch program is a very effective in almost every community that has put it in place and is still the best form of crime and prevention. Watch out for forms of suspicious behavior even if it may not seem important at that time, it can become the final piece to the puzzle later; suspicious behavior could be repeated sightings of the same individuals on a street that are known to not live in the area. Abandoned cars, with out of state plates, when no one is staying with neighbors could be a sign that the neighborhood is being watched in preparation for a burglary. Suspicious behavior can also be an instance where unknown persons are in an area where only local citizens should be. A repeated sighting of the same car driving up and down the street, with the driving looking for something, could also be reported as suspicious behavior. Someone looking into the windows of a neighbor’s home, or vehicle, is cause for suspicious behavior. A Property that is being taken out of a house when it is not known that the occupants were planning to move could be a sign of a robbery in progress. A stranger sitting in a car near a park, or stopping to talk to a young child is a serious sign of potential abduction. A One suspicious behavior that most of people do see, even if they don’t realize what is happening, is the conducting of business transactions in a vehicle, a strong sign of drug dealers. It is important to know the citizens of the community. A Community member should be vigilant in watching the vehicles drive around the area. A If a neighbor is on vacation, special watches should be placed on their home and any odd behavior reported to the police immediately. The neighborhood watch program is an effective way to diminish the theory of social disorganization in some communities. Engaging members of the community in neighborhood watch programs serves to lessen the prospect of criminals... It’s every one’s business “Violence holds victims, families, friends, and neighborhoods hostage. It rips communities apart or prevents them from coming together. Violence takes many forms. Assaults, rapes, robberies, and homicides are directly violent, but crimes like burglary are often cloaked in violence and cause sometimes-paralyzing fear. Recognize that violence has many causes. Some are immediate a specific argument, easy availability of a weapon, a situation in which an aggressor thinks violence will bring quick rewards, an anger that sees no other outlet. Some are less direct for example, a community tolerance of high violence levels, reinforced by news and entertainment media. Some are individual inability to see another way to settle disagreements, for instance. Some involve situations such as peer pressure that measures or boosts self-esteem through violence. No one needs to confront all these aspects of violence at once. The point is, there's something everyone can do.” (THOMAS ORGANIZATION, n.d.) Reference Page http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e040825133-res-review3.pdf THOMAS ORGANIZATION. (n.d.). Crime Prevention. 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