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Neighborhood Watch Program
As part of the Neighborhood Watch, Ferguson residents are trained to protect their property and themselves by:
- Securing their homes from unlawful entry
- Identifying their personal property through marking, photographing, and preparing property inventories
- Maintaining a watch group in their neighborhoods to report suspicious activity to their local police department
The security of the City of Ferguson and its citizens depends upon the people themselves. No police department can effectively protect life and property without the support and cooperation of the citizens it serves.
Importance of Being a Member
Every citizen should be a Neighborhood Watch Member, a concerned citizen who observes his or her neighborhood and reports criminal activity to the Ferguson Police Department. Neighborhood Watch members do not take the place of the police department in enforcing the law or apprehending criminals. The need for neighbors to look out for each other is the basis of Neighborhood Watch. The program will enable residents to act as the eyes and ears of the police department.
How to Organize a Watch
- Step One: Call a meeting in a local home, church, community building, or suitable meeting place. Invite everyone in your neighborhood. The program will only work if your neighbors attend the meetings. Ask your Ferguson police sector officer to attend.
- Step Two: Get a complete list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of everyone taking part in the program. This list can be used to contact members for future meetings.
- Step Three: Ask the sector officer to explain the Neighborhood Watch Program. Have the officer give an overview of the various topics of interest as possible meeting themes. Review the criteria for posting Neighborhood Watch Signs in the area.
- Step Four: Select or elect block captains. These block captains will be given a listing of all those people attending from their block. The block captains will also contact new residents in their area and invite them to join the Neighborhood Watch Program.
- Step Five: Establish the individual block watch boundaries. It is recommended that the block watch be a normal city block with no more than 20 or 30 homes, or a single apartment complex.
- Step Six: Plan bimonthly or quarterly meetings to discuss neighborhood problems and concerns. The Ferguson police sector officer will gladly present a training program as a part of your meeting. Many special interest topics about your local police department are available as meeting themes.
Additional Information
Please email the Ferguson Police Department to request an officer to attend your Neighborhood Watch meeting, to find out if your street is located in an established Neighborhood Watch group, or if your would like to start a watch group in your area.
For more information, contact the Ferguson Police Department's community relations officer at 314-522-3100,
Block Captain
The Police Department does not wish to control the Neighborhood Watch Program. The Police Department will lend assistance as needed. That is why it is important to elect your own neighbors as leaders (block captains). Since the success of any Neighborhood Watch Program depends on interaction among neighbors, the block captain must encourage active residents to persuade cooperation from other residents on the block.
The block captain will then try and keep the group informed through regular meetings about new developments or concepts, as well as promoting social interaction to deepen the watch group's cohesiveness. The police representative will keep in close contact with the block captains to aid them in their function and to pass on important information.