Neighborhood Watch Interactive
Now you can do a Neighborhood Watch program in any unincorporated area of the
county from the comfort of your living room, fighting crime at the same time!
It’s easy and fun.
First: Get to know your neighborhood and what crime is occurring
nearby. Go to our
Crime Map page and find your neighborhood. The Crime Map
program allows you to search the calls associated with unincorporated geographic
regions of the county, including your street, to see what crimes have been
reported. You can even do custom searches over different periods of time to
determine certain trends.
Second: Talk with neighbors to see who has email and ask them if
they would be interested in forming a Neighborhood Watch Interactive group with
you. Once you have a group together, encourage each one to sign up for the Crime
Prevention Insider newsletter published quarterly by the Sheriff’s Dept. Write
PreventCrime@co.slo.ca.us to get on the email mailing list and ask for your free
Neighborhood Watch decals.
Third: Set up an email group list of all the people who have
agreed to join your Neighborhood Watch and share the group with everyone so each
household may send an alert at any time. Now the training begins! You as
coordinator of your Neighborhood Watch Interactive group need to teach everyone
what to look for and how to call the Sheriff’s Department.
What is Suspicious Activity?
- Someone running from a car or home.
- Someone screaming.
- Someone going door to
door in the neighborhood or looking into windows and/or parked cars.
- A person(s)
who appears to have no purpose wandering through your neighborhood.
- Breaking
glass or the sound of a door being kicked.
- Vehicles moving slowly at night
without lights.
- Someone removing property from a closed business or unoccupied
home.
- A stranger in a car who stops to talk with a child.
- Offers of merchandise
available for a price that does not match the value of the item.
- Hand to hand
transactions from cars or on the street.
How to Report Suspicious Activity or
Crimes in Progress
- Know when and how to call the Sheriff’s Department. In
progress crime 9-1-1. Questions or non-emergency calls, 805-781-4550.
- Describe
the event briefly and answer questions about what, where, when and how it
happened and any suspects or vehicles.
- State if crime is in progress or if it
has just occurred.
- Describe suspect(s) sex, race, height, weight, hair
color/length, clothing, accent, facial hair or other distinguishing
characteristics.
- If a vehicle is involved, what is the color, make, model, year,
license number, decals, dents, etc. and what direction did it take from the
scene.
- Give your name and phone number.
Fourth: You’re almost done! You have
studied the crime map to know what’s happening, identified your neighbors and
formed an email group, taught them about suspicious activity and how to call the
Sheriff…now what? Encourage your group to share information about suspicious
activities or issues, especially when they have called the Sheriff’s Dept for
assistance. Keep each other informed. A great example is a suspicious solicitor
who comes to your door. Something is not right; the person looks past you into
your home, offers only a poor reason why they came to your door. Call the
Sheriff’s Dept. to report the suspicious person and email your neighbors about
what just happened and who to watch for and why you were concerned. It is also
important to have the best phone number available for each person in your group
in case you have urgent information to share.
Do’s and Don’ts: Do share information about your
neighborhood, but not gossip about a neighbor. Do encourage others to join, but
don’t force anyone who may be uncomfortable. Do share website information from
www.slosheriff.org and join the Sheriff’s Dept. Facebook account as a fan, but
don’t spam!
Helpful Links: