Be a Good Neighbor Without continuous encouragement, people tend to stand back from active participation in Neighborhood Watch. They show the stickers and settle in their armchairs in the belief that they have done their bit. Getting neighbors involved means helping start a real sense of community. One of the most effective ways to get this started is to enlist your friend s help in starting the occasional purely social event under the Neighborhood Watch Banner. Quiz nights and barbecues are popular and take people from being nodding acquaintances to making friends.
Real communication makes effective coordination.
Once your Watch is started, all of the stickers are up, and the initial excitement is over, it can all fall a bit flat. Criminals avoid your area, because there is a new Neighborhood Watch, so there is little or no information from the Sheriff s Office. It is very easy for a Watch to become hollow at this point and begin to fail. You and your friends can help stop this from happening by generating activity and interest in the quiet spells, when there is little reported crime. Keeping a Watch scheme going means encouraging people to keep in touch with their neighbors and keeping information flowing and activity going.