connellsville crime watch
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Connellsville Crime WatchTRANSCRIPT
Connellsville Crime Watch
Introduction Meeting
12 June 2013
What is a Neighborhood Crime Watch?
• A Crime Watch is an organization that helps residents prevent or reduce crime, develop a positive rapport with law enforcement, and become the “eyes and ears” for law enforcement. At Crime Watch meetings, residents discuss a plan and potential solutions to address the area’s crime problems. A Crime Watch is also a great way to meet and get to know your neighbors, which enhances everyone’s safety in the neighborhood.
Neighborhood Crime Watch groups are organizations that:
• Teach citizens techniques to reduce the risk of being victimized at home and in public.
• Train citizens to recognize and report the risk of being victimized at home and in public.
• Train citizens to recognize and report suspicious activities.
• Teach participants how to make their homes more secure and how to properly identify their property.
• Allow neighbors to get to know each other and their routines so that unusual activity can be reported and investigated.
• Bring citizens together to address the needs and issues that concern the entire community.
Neighborhood Crime Watch Groups Are Not:
• Vigilante forces working outside the normal procedures of law enforcement.
• Programs designed for participants to take personal risks to prevent crime.
• A 100% guarantee that crime will not occur in your neighborhood.
The Leader of the Crime Watch Program is:
A block coordinator/captain is the person or persons that will
1. Organize “block” activity.
2. Distribute crime prevention and community information to members of the group.
3. Represent their area or section at other Neighborhood Crime Watch activities in the community.
4. Complete a block map or roster containing first and last names, addresses, contact numbers and emails of all residents in their areas.
The Broken Windows Theory • Under the broken windows theory, an ordered and clean
environment – one which is maintained – sends the signal that the area is monitored and that criminal behavior will not be tolerated. On the other hand, a disordered environment – one which is not maintained (broken windows, graffiti, excessive litter) – sends the signal that the area is not monitored and that one can engage in criminal behavior with little risk of detection.
The Broken Windows Theory
• It is assumed that under this theory, the landscape "communicates" to people. A broken window transmits to criminals the message that a community displays a lack of informal social control and is therefore unable to or unwilling to defend itself against a criminal invasion. It is not so much the actual broken window that is important, but rather the message the people receive from the broken window. It is a symbol of defenselessness and vulnerability by the community and is a representation of the cohesiveness of the people within. Neighborhoods that have a strong sense of cohesion will fix broken windows and assert social responsibility upon themselves and effectively giving themselves control over their space.
The Broken Windows Theory
• Under the impression that a broken window left unfixed will lead to more serious problems in the future, residents will begin to change the way they see their community. In an attempt to stay safe, a cohesive community will start to fall apart as individuals start to spend less time within communal space to avoid potential violent attacks by strangers. The slow deterioration of a community as a result of broken windows modifies the way people behave when it comes to their communal space which in turn leads to a breakdown of community control.
Entrance To Yough River Park and the Great Allegheny Passage Hike and Bike Trail
Connellsville.
House with Broken/Boarded up windows currently used for storage. Bridge next to
property full of graffiti.
South Pittsburgh Street Property current used for Retail and Apartments.
Swastika painted on the side of the building.
Empty buildings in the next block with broken windows and trash.
East Park Connellsville
Graffiti Painted on Buildings
Swastika's painted on the tables.
Connellsville Crime Watch Initiatives
• Fayette/Westmoreland State Representative Deb Kula.
• 25 “Crime Watch Manuals”
• 25 “Take a Bite Out of Crime” Kids Activity Books
• 2013 CDGB Program Funds
• Neighborhood Crime Watch Signage $600.00
• Neighborhood Crime Watch Booklets $ 500.00
• Participant Training & Equipment $ 1000.00
• Crime Mapping Software (Maptitude) $ 900.00
• Total $ 3000.00
General Information
Mission Statement- To promote a safer community through education of the residential, commercial, and youth sectors of
the community.
• Follow us at “Connellsville Crime Watch”
Connellsville Crime Watch Thank You!