A watchful eye

The Riverside Town Council had a short agenda for their October 14 meeting. One large ticket item on the agenda was the possibility of a neighborhood watch program.

Councilmember Mark Helwick brought the program to the council’s attention after a seeming increase in crime in the area. After the summer’s recent manhunt and other criminal activities the Riverside town council is looking into multiple avenues for the safety of its residents.

According to their website, NNW.ORG the Neighborhood Watch Program draws upon the compassion of average citizens asking them to lend their neighbors a hand. Since 1972, the National Neighborhood Watch Program has worked to unite law enforcement agencies, private organizations and individual citizens in a nation-wide effort to reduce crime and improve local communities.

The success of the program has established Neighborhood Watch as the nation’s premier crime prevention and community mobilization program. Visible signs of the program are seen throughout America on street signs.The National Neighborhood Watch program empowers citizens to become active in community efforts through participation in Neighborhood Watch groups.

A neighborhood watch program is a group of people living in the same area who want to make their neighborhood safer by working together and in conjunction with local law enforcement to reduce crime and improve their quality of life.

Neighborhood watch groups have regular meetings to plan how they will accomplish their specific goals and leaders with assigned responsibilities. Neighborhood watch is homeland security at the most local level. It is an opportunity to volunteer and work towards increasing the safety and security of our homes and our homeland. Neighborhood watch empowers citizens and communities to become active in emergency preparedness, as well as the fight against crime and community disasters.

Implementing a neighborhood watch program is on the Riverside town councils radar and may be making an appearance at future meetings.

The next meeting of the Riverside Town Council will be at 6 p.m. on November 11 at Riverside Town Hall.