Mesa Police Department 2001 Annual Report
News Article

Block Watches work for Mesa neighbors

by Paul Matthews
The Arizona Republic
April 12, 2001

            When thieves pilfered Amy Kalis’ mail, she was angry.  But when a burglar broke into a neighbor’s home, tied up a girl getting ready for school and ransacked the girl’s house, Kalis declared war.
            “After that I thought, “You know, I want to take back the neighborhood,” Kalis said.
            The girl wasn’t injured, but the threat was enough.  Kalis called Mesa police to form a neighborhood Block Watch group.
            Throughout the East Valley, residents fed up with crime are uniting.  At the Lakes in Tempe they’re fighting back against burglaries.  In Gilbert’s Finley Farms, neighbors banded together after a rape.  A Chandler neighborhood joined forces when a convicted sex offender moved down the streets.
            Those who have formed Block Watches say crime rates dropped, they feel safer and their neighborhoods have developed a sense of community uncommon in Valley neighborhoods characterized by 6-foot-high fences and gated developments.
            “You know if something doesn’t look right,” Kalis said.
            The modern Neighborhood Watch can be traced to the late 1960s when the country’s burglary rate began to climb, according to the National Sheriff’s Association Web site.  In 1972, the program evolved into the National Neighborhood Watch Program with funding from a federal grant.
            Mesa boasts 725 Block Watches, each of which is required to meet twice a year with at least 50 percent block participation to stay certified.  At least two years ago, a department study found that calls for service escalated but crime dipped in neighborhoods with effective Block Watches.  However, Mesa police do not specifically keep statistics that would show whether Block Watches reduce crime.
           “Residents know what to look for as far as suspicious vehicles, etc.,” said Karen Hubbard, a community relations assistant for Mesa police.
            The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has about 15 Block Watch programs in the East Valley including the communities of Queen Creek, Sun Lakes and unincorporated eat Mesa, said Deputy Deborah Moyer.
            “A lot of people don’t realize if they don't live in unincorporated areas they aren’t excluded from Block Watches,” Moyer said.
            Crime prevention employees provide neighborhood Block Watches with area crime statistics, ideas on reducing criminal elements and ways to prevent themselves from becoming victims.
            “There are two kinds of people:  those affected by crime who take a reactive measure and those who are proactive and want to learn about crime prevention prior to any crimes occurring,” said Lindy Marino, a crime prevention specialist for Mesa police.
            Among the ideas pushed by police:  cut back bushes from windows so criminals can’t hide, remove mail promptly from mailboxes, keep garage doors closed and keep lights set on timers at home.
            The challenge for police, Marino said, is to keep neighborhood watches from becoming complacent.
            Kalis and her neighbors assembled a phone tree to keep everyone informed when incidents occurred.  And when something doesn’t look right, they call police.
            “It comes down to caring,” said Mary Conant, a Block Watch captain in Ahwatukee Foothills.  “if you car about your neighborhood and the people who live near you, you can make a difference.”

Back to Special Operations Bureau page

Used with permission from the Arizona Republic  www.azcentral.com