Frith educates Abbeville Rotarians about Neighborhood Watch Program

Mary arrived at her front door on her lunch break south of Erath and noticed something not right with her door. She looked and the dead-bolt on the door looked tampered with. Someone tried to break into her front door of her house Tuesday morning while she was at work.
She asked the neighbors if anyone saw who went to her front door, but no neighbors saw anything. Had a Neighborhood Watch program been set up, then maybe, a neighbor would have been on the lookout for strangers in the neighborhood.
Launched in 1972, Neighborhood Watch counts on citizens to organize themselves and work with law enforcement to keep a trained eye and ear on their communities, while demonstrating their presence at all times, day and night.
Col. Kirk Frith of the Vermilion Parish Sheriff Office spoke to the Abbeville Rotary Club and educated the Rotarians about the benefits of having a Neighborhood Watch Program
“This program works and it works very well,” said Frith. “It is, however, something you have to want to do everyday and you have to keep it going in the neighborhood.”
Frith said most people want a Neighborhood Watch Program because there is a spike in crime in their neighborhood or around their neighborhood.
Neighborhood Watch Programs help deter burglaries and thefts in the neighborhood.
There are 6,000 burglars a day in the United States or 2.2 million a year. When a burglary occurs, 85 percent of the time it is done by a male between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
“Burglaries generally happen during the day and thefts happen at night,” he said.
The definition of a burglary is the unlawful entry into a home or business to commit a crime. The definition of a theft is the taking of property from a yard or building.
“Burglaries happen
during the day because most people are not home because they are working,” he said. “The burglars concentrate on the day time when no one is there. At night, you are not going to enter the home because we are there sleeping.”
He added most burglars are not professionals and when they leave a home after only being in the home for only a minute, steal around $2,000 of merchandise. He said many thieves are looking for something they can carry off quickly and sell for drugs.
Many of the burglars who attempt to get into a home can easily do so because 30 percent of homes are unlocked or the windows are not secured during the day.
Nationally, July and August are the most frequent months for burglars because high school students are out of school and looking for something to do. February is the slowest month.
Col. Frith explained to the Rotarians not to make it easy for burglars by locking their doors to their homes and vehicles. He said when there was a rash of vehicle burglaries north of Abbeville this year, it was unlocked cars being burglarized.
He also advised not leaving things like four-wheelers or bikes parked unlocked in the yard when no one is home. By doing that, it makes it easy for a burglar to drive off with the four-wheeler or bike.
Film or take pictures of your belongings in your house, he added.
If anyone wants to begin a Neighborhood Watch Program, Col. Frith said to contact the Sheriff’s Office or their local police department.

Tips for Neighborhood Watch

• Work with the police or sheriff’s office. These agencies are critical to a Watch group’s credibility and are the source of necessary information and training.
• Link up with your victims’ services office to get your members trained in helping victims of crime.
• Hold regular meetings to help residents get to know each other and to decide upon program strategies and activities.
• Consider linking with an existing organization, such as a citizens’ association, community development office, tenants’ association, or housing authority. They may be able to provide an existing infrastructure you can use.
• Canvass door-to-door to recruit members.
• Ask people who seldom leave their homes to be “window watchers,” looking out for children and reporting any unusual activities in the neighborhood.
• Translate crime and drug prevention materials into Spanish or other languages needed by non-English speakers in your community. If necessary, have a translator at meetings.
• Sponsor a crime and drug prevention fair at a church hall, temple, shopping mall, or community center.
• Gather the facts about crime in your neighborhood. Check police reports, conduct victimization surveys, and learn residents’ perceptions about crimes. Often, residents’ opinions are not supported by facts, and accurate information can reduce the fear of crime.
• Physical conditions like abandoned cars or overgrown vacant lots contribute to crime. Sponsor cleanups, encourage residents to beautify the area, and ask them to turn on outdoor lights at night.
• Work with small businesses to repair rundown storefronts, clean up littered streets, and create jobs for young people.
• Start a block parent program to help children cope with emergencies while walking to and from school or playing in the area.
• Emphasize that Watch groups are not vigilantes and should not assume the role of the police. Their duty is to ask neighbors to be alert, observant, and caring—and to report suspicious activity or crimes immediately to the police.