How to ‘rock a neighborhood watch’

PALMER — The Frontiersman attended the Palmer Police Department’s neighborhood watch meeting on Thursday at the Palmer Depot. The meeting was hosted by Chief Lance Ketterling, commander Dwayne Shelton and dispatch supervisor Rebecca Frey. Following are their tips and information in a guide titled: How to rock a Neighborhood Watch.

Step one: Meet your peeps

Get yourself out there, and meet your neighbors. If you’re feeling shy, follow this script provided by Ketterling: “Hi, I’m (NAME), and I’m trying to start a Neighborhood Watch for (our block / our subdivision.” Congratulations! You’re on your way.

Step two: Map it out

Make a friendly neighbors map for your area, with names, home addresses, and best contact phone numbers for people who want to participate in the new neighborhood watch program. Call the Palmer Police Department business line, at 907-745-4811, or Wasilla Police Department business line, 907-352-5401, or Alaska State Troopers Palmer Post 907-745-2131 (ask for Belinda Bohanan) to request materials for setting up and documenting a neighborhood watch group. Set up a group Facebook page for your neighborhood, and limit the membership to people inside the watch area.

Step three: Plan the first meeting, and invite local law enforcement

“Two weeks out, I want you to call us,” said Ketterling. “Say, ‘We’re going to have a neighborhood watch meeting for this date, this time. We will arrange, barring emergency, to have someone there at your neighborhood watch meetings so we can introduce ourselves, meet you individually, and talk to you about whatever topic you want to talk about.”

Topics could include drugs, vandalism, victim or witness services, or how to better keep your homes safe and communicate among eachother about and report suspicious behaviors.

Fire prevention is also a good topic, Ketterling said, and watch participants can also invite the local fire department – “Palmer Fire would love to come talk to you guys about fire prevention and fire safety for the kiddos.” Ketterling also said Palmer PD would be more than happy to give talks to groups of teenagers about crimes. Topics for teens in neighborhood watch programs could include how to keep themselves safer, the impacts of committing a crime on victims and the consequences, and what to do if they are witness to, or victim of, a crime.

Step Four: Advertise

About a week before the first meeting, make and pass out flyers informing your neighbors of the place, date and time of the meeting. Plan the refreshments, and give reminder calls to confirm for people who are already on your neighborhood watch list.

Step Five: Host the first Meeting

Make it fun.

“The more it happens, the more people will start to enjoy it, and it’ll be a community event,” Ketterling said. “You’ll be meeting your friends. And you’re looking out for eachother.”

As you watch your neigborhood watch program grow, add a sense of fun and community by throwing in a block party or community barbecue here and there.

Plan the food like you would any other party.

“After a while, people groan at these things, and they’re like, ‘Oh, another neighborhood watch meeting, and we’ll be eating Berta’s chili again,’” Ketterling said.

We don’t know who this Berta is but we are noting the warning about her chili. Be sure to look up recipes on the Internets for some rockin’ appetizers instead.

Step Six: Be aware, be connected,

and report safely and specifically

“How to keep yourself safe is keeping your eyes open and your head on a swivel,” Shelton said. “Doesn’t mean you have to be paranoid. Just be observant.”

Shelton said it’s a good idea to let your neighbors and your local law enforcement know when you’re on vacation.

“We try to drive by it and pay more attention,” Shelton said. “If we see someone who’s not a person you told us about, we’ll question them.”

If you see suspicious behavior, report it, said Frey.

Ketterling added lots of people don’t report suspicious behavior out of an abundance of politeness – they say they just don’t want to bother police with something that might not really be a crime in progress.

Ketterling said not to worry about that. Police want to be bothered with your concerns about what looks like suspicious behavior in your neighborhood.

But do be specific.

Being specific helps law enforcement identify suspects, and can help establish reasonable suspicion or probable cause, Ketterling said.

For example, “I saw a person take a small orange-colored object out of their pocket and hand it to another person. The second person handed that guy money, who folded it and put it in his right pocket. The second person put the orange object in the left front pocket of their jacket. And left on foot for South Alaska Street,” is a helpful description of a suspicious behavior to give to a dispatcher, Frey said.

“That’s much more valuable than, ‘I just saw a drug deal.’”

Finally, don’t go vigilante on someone.

Ketterling said that’s the last thing police want. Neighborhood watch participants should always keep themselves safe while reporting or witnessing a crime.