Neighborhood Watch
Neighborhood Watch Program
What is Neighborhood Watch?
Neighborhood Watch is a citizen’s involvement program where citizens, in cooperation with the Bristol Police Department, directly participate in the detection and prevention of crime. Citizens involved in Neighborhood Watch are trained in how to recognize suspicious or criminal activities and report these activities to their police department. These Neighborhood Watch Citizens keep well informed about their neighborhood and of any suspicious, criminal or dangerous activities that may be occurring. In short, Neighborhood Watch Citizens provide valuable information to Bristol Police Department which investigates suspicious activities, apprehends criminals and prevents crime. Neighborhood Watch can and will make your community a better and safer place to live.
Neighborhood Watch is not:
Neighborhood Watch is not a group of vigilantes or lawless people taking the law into their own hands. Neighborhood Watch Citizens do not take the place of their police department in enforcing the law or apprehending criminals.
Why Neighborhood Watch works:
To understand the value of Neighborhood Watch in a community, you must first understand that The Police Department is limited in their available manpower. A Neighborhood Watch Program in your community will greatly help your local police overcome their manpower shortage. This is done by the use of alert citizens within the community who are constantly observing their neighborhood for suspicious activities.
Unlimited Citizen Availability:
Neighborhood Watch provides its community with unlimited availability of the citizens to watch their neighborhoods for suspicious activities or crimes. Unlike the police who are limited in where they can be at any given time or circumstances, Neighborhood Watch Citizens are many times everywhere all the time. The observations of Neighborhood Watch Citizens are many times greater than any police department could ever have the manpower to provide. This helps deter crime enormously since it puts the criminal element off balance, and the criminal, instead of limiting his concern to police patrols, must put himself on guard against an entire community watching for his criminal conduct.
Electronic Neighborhood Watch Program
What is Electronic Neighborhood Watch Program?
The Electronic Neighborhood Watch Program is an initiative geared towards reducing crime in the Bristol Community.
Crime alert messages will be sent to participating e-mail recipients. Residents and Businesses will be notified of scam artists, thieves, snow alerts, flood information and criminal activity specific to their geographical area and/or business type. By being made aware of criminal activity and being willing to look out far another's interest, police and citizens can collectively combat crime in our community.
Why should I join the Electronic Neighborhood Watch Program?
ENWP enhances security conscientiousness among community members. This crime prevention initiative is known as target hardening.
Example: If you're alerted to unlocked vehicles or homes being burglarized in your neighborhood, you're more inclined to secure your property. The theory of target hardening, or making the potential victim aware of their vulnerability and taking steps to prevent the same, is a means to reduce crime.
ENWP serves as deterrence to would-be criminals...
Example: If a criminal knows that everyone is aware of their criminal activity and are working hand-in-hand with police to be on-the-lookout for suspicious activity, those criminals will be less likely to commit crimes. The theory of deterrence serves to displace and/or prevent crime from occurring.
How do I join Electronic Neighborhood Watch Program?
All you have to do is complete the online Electronic Neighborhood Watch Program Sign-Up Form and you're all set! You will receive crime alerts as we release them. It's that simple!
Download the Electronic Neighborhood Watch Program's Information Page here.