Why Neighborhood Watch?

So why bother with Neighborhood Watch?

A fair question. Especially with everyone being so busy and time strapped. Who needs another “program” or thing to do right?

Plus there has to be someone else whose job it is to do that for me. I’m just too ______________ (fill in the blank) to do anything more.

Sure, you have a point.

But what if something happened to you? What if you need a hand for something. It could be anything. Wouldn’t it be nice to know who your neighbor is so you could reach out and ask them for a hand?

Well, that is exactly what Neighborhood Watch is all about. There’s no formal training or big time consuming weekly meetings to attend. In fact most Neighborhood Watch groups in Rossmoor meet about once a year for about an hour to talk with an OC Sheriff’s Deputy about things they can do to keep safe. These meets typically happen on the block in someone’s driveway. Very informal and low key. But you don’t have to attend.

So what should you do if you’d like to make your block a safer place (or keep it safe)?

There’s a few things you can do.

First, register your home here.

That gets you and your home on our list of interested residents. Then our Neighborhood Watch Team will reach out to you or your block captain to get you any information on what your block does with Neighborhood Watch. Some blocks are more active than others.

Remember the basic premise of Neighborhood Watch is to watch out for your neighbors, and report anything that you see that is out of the ordinary for your block to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. If it is an emergency then call 9-1-1, if it is not an emergency (and that definition is up to you), then call the North County District office non-emergency line 714.647.7000

As far as additional actions you can take, you can talk with your key 5 neighbors and introduce yourself. Your key 5 are the home on either side of yours, and the 3 homes that are directly across the street from you. Now this introduction does not need to be you hosting a dinner party in their honor or promising to care for their cat. It’s much simpler than that. How about letting them know your name and phone number, tell them where you live, and that you’d like to make your block a safer place by watching for suspicious activity on your block and calling the Sheriff if you see something. And then ask them if they will call you or the Sheriff if they see something odd around your home.

That’s it. Ideally you’d get their phone number too so that if you had a power outage, you could call them to see if their power is our as well. Then you’d know if it is just your home or multiple homes that are effected by the outage.

It’s a really simple program and requires so little of you or anyone else. Just be aware of the things that happen around you and your home, and call the Sheriff if you see something. It’s the See Something, Say Something program for your block.