- Home
- Services
- Police
- Neighborhood Watch
- How Will Our Program Work?
How Will Our Program Work?
The program designed for your neighborhood is simple, inexpensive and reliable. It starts with you, by your first admitting that there is a crime problem in Seville and by you making a commitment to eliminate that problem from your neighborhood.
It starts by you meeting with your neighbors, the ones next door and across the street from you and making a mutual agreement with each of them to watch for suspicious activities around your homes and to notify each other and the police of anything that appears to be out of the ordinary. This means a mutual understanding that it is okay to call the police or your neighbors about something unusual to you; even if you are not 100% sure that something is wrong! It would be far better to call your neighbor and ask them if the car parked in front of their house belongs to friends of theirs than to find out the next day that your neighbor was burglarized.
Mistakes Happen
It also means understanding that sometimes you or your neighbors might be wrong. That it is possible to call the police about suspicious persons walking down the street to find out later that they live several houses away. The police department does not expect you to recognize every criminal. It has been the experience of the Seville Police Department that citizens here do not mind explaining that they are just out for a walk when they learn that neighbors called about someone they did not recognize. Most thank the officers for being concerned enough about the area to take the time to check. They know that if the police will check on them, that they will be checking the criminals as well! Once this agreement is reached with your immediate neighbors, the groundwork for a successful neighborhood watch program has been put in place. The idea behind a successful neighborhood watch program is to keep it simple and reliable. You are the eyes and the ears of your neighbors and police. You should immediately call the police by dialing "911" if you see:
As a police officer, one of the most frustrating things is to find out several days after an event that there were witnesses who did not call the police. They usually say that they did not want to bother the police department since they really weren't sure if something was wrong, or they simply didn't think that the police would be interested in knowing about a car full of kids sitting at the end of a dead end street.
Many, many bad guys have been caught because a citizen called the police not knowing if a crime was being committed or not. Remember, the police won't know either until they investigate and they certainly don't expect you to know from the information you can gather from your window!
Suspicious People
As a rule, if a person looks suspicious, acts suspicious or is in an unusual area (your backyard at 2 in the morning), that person is suspicious and should be checked out. People who are about to commit a crime or who are up to no good display visual clues that you may pick up on not even knowing what to look for. If you are not sure, take the safe route and call the police.
It starts by you meeting with your neighbors, the ones next door and across the street from you and making a mutual agreement with each of them to watch for suspicious activities around your homes and to notify each other and the police of anything that appears to be out of the ordinary. This means a mutual understanding that it is okay to call the police or your neighbors about something unusual to you; even if you are not 100% sure that something is wrong! It would be far better to call your neighbor and ask them if the car parked in front of their house belongs to friends of theirs than to find out the next day that your neighbor was burglarized.
Mistakes Happen
It also means understanding that sometimes you or your neighbors might be wrong. That it is possible to call the police about suspicious persons walking down the street to find out later that they live several houses away. The police department does not expect you to recognize every criminal. It has been the experience of the Seville Police Department that citizens here do not mind explaining that they are just out for a walk when they learn that neighbors called about someone they did not recognize. Most thank the officers for being concerned enough about the area to take the time to check. They know that if the police will check on them, that they will be checking the criminals as well! Once this agreement is reached with your immediate neighbors, the groundwork for a successful neighborhood watch program has been put in place. The idea behind a successful neighborhood watch program is to keep it simple and reliable. You are the eyes and the ears of your neighbors and police. You should immediately call the police by dialing "911" if you see:
- A crime is being committed.
- Suspicious persons or persons whose behaviors seem odd to you.
- Suspicious cars in your neighborhood, or ones parked where people do not usually park.
- Juveniles out after curfew. The curfew in Seville begins at 11:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday and at 12:00 midnight on Friday and Saturday.
- Unusual persons or happenings at a neighbor's house, for instance, people around the home when the owners are usually at work.
- Dogs barking as if to warn off an intruder.
- At any time a person or situation appears to be suspicious to you, even if you are not sure of the reason for this suspicion
As a police officer, one of the most frustrating things is to find out several days after an event that there were witnesses who did not call the police. They usually say that they did not want to bother the police department since they really weren't sure if something was wrong, or they simply didn't think that the police would be interested in knowing about a car full of kids sitting at the end of a dead end street.
Many, many bad guys have been caught because a citizen called the police not knowing if a crime was being committed or not. Remember, the police won't know either until they investigate and they certainly don't expect you to know from the information you can gather from your window!
Suspicious People
As a rule, if a person looks suspicious, acts suspicious or is in an unusual area (your backyard at 2 in the morning), that person is suspicious and should be checked out. People who are about to commit a crime or who are up to no good display visual clues that you may pick up on not even knowing what to look for. If you are not sure, take the safe route and call the police.