Neighborhood Watch program needs volunteers
BROWNSVILLE – More participants are being sought for the Neighborhood Watch program in Brownsville. “We do not have block captains for every area of the town and we are asking people to come forward for that,” said Neighborhood Watch president Norma Ryan.
Ryan said the captains already in place met recently to develop a plan to increase the presence of the Neighborhood Watch program to make neighborhoods less desirable to criminals.
“It includes neighborhood walks, disbursement of Neighborhood Watch signs for windows and forms for people to report anything unusual they see in the community,” Ryan said.
Ryan said residents have an increasingly important role to play in combating crime in the borough now that the local police have been laid off.
The local officers were furloughed at the beginning of December, and borough council president Jack Lawver said he doesn’t expect them to be called back until the end of January at the earliest.
Council also voted to reduce the number of patrol hours per week from 120 hours to 80 hours, eliminating one full-time position.
The residents have been warned repeatedly at Neighborhood Watch meetings not to take matters into their own hands, but to serve as eyes and ears for the police and to be willing to testify in court if they see something occur in their neighborhood.
Ryan said that role is important now that the state police are patrolling Brownsville.
“We’re looking forward to our police department coming back because they know everyone in the community. It’s got to be difficult for the state police coming in,” Ryan said.
Ryan said the Neighborhood Watch meetings also give residents an opportunity to get an idea of what’s happening throughout the town.
“It gives an opportunity to compare what’s happening. Is this just in my neighborhood, or is it all over? This is something that can pull us together,” Ryan said.
The next Neighborhood Watch meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Brownsville No. 1 (North Side) fire hall.