Connections within immediate neighborhoods seem to have remained stable or improved in the past year. Research has documented the importance of community cohesion, regardless of ethnic or socio-economic makeup of the neighborhood, in preventing crime. This venerable crime prevention program, which usually includes home security surveys, property marking, and training in crime prevention and crime reporting, has in many areas become a base from which to launch even broader efforts that seek to reduce causes of crime and improve neighborhood conditions.
Programs are more likely to be available in urban and suburban areas than in rural communities.
Nearly six out of ten people who know that they have a Neighborhood Watch available participate in it. This makes Neighborhood Watch the largest single organized crime prevention activity in the nation. Neighbors were more likely in 2000 than in 1999 to say that they work together to make things better in their neighborhood. Eighty-three percent agree or agree strongly with this statement, compared with 78 percent in 1999.