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The way of life in the United States has changed rapidly. Americans don’t know their neighbors as well as they once did. Churches, schools and neighborhoods are no longer the social institutions linking entire families into a single community. With the growth of our communities, we all seek more privacy, therefore our front porches have disappeared and the family has moved its social activities to the back yard, often behind tall fences or hedges. This privacy, the moving our front porches to our back yards, has had its price. The security and safety that our old neighborhoods and communities provided in the past, has disappeared years ago.

Neighborhood Watch Programs were instituted in 1972 in response to the rise in burglaries and vandalism that began to plague our homes and neighborhoods. It is the best crime fighting tool ever invented-neighbors watching for neighbors. It brings citizens into action to protect their own property, to implement crime measures, and to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in proactive community crime prevention programs.

When communities work together with law enforcement, they become extra “eyes and ears” for the agency, helping create the best crime prevention team around. You and your neighbors are vital in helping make our neighborhoods safer. Neighborhood Watch has proven to be the most effective means for getting citizens to take positive steps to protect themselves and their neighbors against crime. The actions required to make a neighborhood safe reduces the possibility of burglaries, assaults, rapes, robberies, and acts of vandalism.

The Johnson City Police Department is pleased to announce the formation of its Neighborhood Watch Program. The program will link citizens to the police department via an Email Broadcast System. Citizens will receive email alerts advising them of crimes in their neighborhood, safety tips, and other informative information on an up to date basis.

Be part of our crime prevention team, be a watchful neighbor, and help make your community safer by starting a Neighborhood Watch Program in your neighborhood. The battle against crime can be won by working together. Let’s bond the spirit of cooperation between law enforcement and the people they serve. It’s up to all of us to make our community a better place. Together, we can make a difference!

If you are interested in forming a Neighborhood Watch Program in your neighborhood, please contact: Officer Bryan Geeslin at 830-868-0995 or by email at jcpd402@moment.net.