The Columbus Police Department wants to reenergize its neighborhood watch program, and Community Relations Officer Rhonda Sanders said east Columbus is an ideal place to start.
Sanders, along with Chief Tony Carleton, will lead an introductory meeting for neighborhood watches at 10 a.m. Saturday in Good Shepherd Episcopal Church at 321 Forrest Blvd. Sanders said citizens are welcome to sign up to start neighborhood watches, but they could also express their concerns about suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.
Hopefully, Sanders said, that will begin an organized process of turning the tide in east Columbus (Ward 2), where she said crime had been on the rise. From there, she hopes to spread the message city wide by hosting a meeting in each ward by summer’s end.
“We need to have a ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting in east Columbus, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Sanders said. “We want to send the drug problems and violence in east Columbus on their way. We’re going to start with this meeting, and we’re going to make something big out of it.”
Sanders said neighborhood watches helped residents get to know their neighbors, and it also organized a system of mutual accountability among neighbors. They also help educate residents on the importance of calling 911 if they see suspicious behavior, she said. Often from a fear of reprisal, she said, residents won’t call 911 when they need to. She gave a recent example where a fight involving dozens of people broke out in broad daylight near an apartment complex in east Columbus and no one called 911.
Sanders wants to “change that mindset.”
“We don’t have enough officers to be everywhere all the time,” Sanders said. “So if you never call us to let us know something is going on, how can you complain? We could solve so many more crimes if people would just get involved.
“You can report suspicious activity to police anonymously,” she added. “Our 911 operators will not force callers to give their names.”
And with neighborhood watch, residents won’t have to fly solo when reporting crime. Sanders said each “watch” will have a block commander, and its members will have access to an online forum where they can share information ranging from lost pets to criminal activity. Sanders said she would monitor those forums, as well, and pass along relevant information to patrol officers or investigators.
Now, Sanders said Columbus has four neighborhood watches — including two in north Columbus, one in east Columbus and one downtown — but some of those have become “lax” in their efforts. She hopes CPD’s renewed focus on neighborhood watch will garner effective new groups and also bring the existing watches up to scratch.
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church pastor Sandra DePriest is involved in one of the watches in north Columbus, and she said it had been very effective. There is great need, she said, for a neighborhood watch near the church, and she is pleased to see the police department reaching out to help.
“We’ve seen what seems to be a rise in violence in the neighborhood and a need for us to get connected with our neighbors,” DePriest said. “I wish to take back our neighborhood around the church. Because of an increase in crime, ‘For Rent’ and ‘For Sale’ signs are going up and people are leaving. If we have to have prayer walks through the neighborhood, let’s do it — anything we can do to help bring safety and security to the residents.”
Sanders said she’s seen a “high level” of interest in advance of Saturday’s meeting, and she hopes at least 50 residents will attend. She expects the meeting will last about an hour.
For more information, contact DePriest at 662-574-1972.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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