If you are interested in obtaining additional information regarding the Neighborhood Watch Program, please contact the Meridian Township Police Department at 517.853.4800.
How does the Neighborhood Watch Program work? Read more below for more information:
Neighborhood Watch involves citizen participation in a self-help effort to combat crime in your neighborhood. The Neighborhood Watch Program will inform you about steps you can take to make your home more secure and how you can help the Meridian Township Police Department be more effective in its fight against crime. A Neighborhood Watch Program is the first logical step for any community organizing against crime. Neighborhood Watch requires minimal effort and gets people to care about and talk to one another.
Neighborhood Watch Coordinator:
The Neighborhood Watch Coordinator is the liaison between the neighborhood and the police. The coordinator is the leader who helps the neighborhood organize its Neighborhood Watch Program. The coordinator recruits block captains, develops a notification system, and initiates its use.
Block Captains:
Block captains canvass their assigned areas and explain the Neighborhood Watch Program to residents. Block captains obtain names, addresses, and contact information of those residents who wish to be Neighborhood Watch members. They help the coordinator design the notification system and help activate it when necessary.
Notification System:
The notification system used should distribute information throughout the community as quickly as possible. Examples include email alerts, telephone trees, Twitter, Facebook, etc. When deciding on the type of notification system to use, one that provides the most immediate response to the most people is preferred. After the Police Department receives the notification system plan, Neighborhood Watch signs will be installed at the neighborhood's entrances.
Neighborhood Watch Coordinators may be alerted by Meridian Police of criminal activity that has occurred within the watch areas. This is done through the community police officer and Ingham County's emergency alert system Smart911. The coordinator passes this information along to the block captains, who contact residents via the notification system. Within a very short time, an entire neighborhood can be alerted to a problem.
Training sessions for your Neighborhood Watch group may be scheduled with the neighborhood officer. Professional instruction will be given on how to better secure your home, what suspicious activity is, how to identify someone, and how to report a crime to the police.
What Each Member Can Do:
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Get to know your neighbors and become familiar with their routines. Remember, this is a partnership.
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Look after your neighbor's home when they are gone. Ask them to look after yours.
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Be suspicious. Report unusual or suspicious behavior to the police.
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Write down descriptions of people or vehicles. License plate numbers are important.
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Keep in regular contact with your neighborhood officer, participate in the notification system, and sign up for Smart911.
What is Smart911?
Meridian Township has partnered with Ingham County to bring residents the RAVE Smart911 mass notification system. When you sign up with RAVE Smart911, you choose the types of alerts you would like to receive and the areas in which you would like to receive them. You will be notified via text message, phone call, and/or email of critical information, such as unexpected road closures, missing persons, serious incidents, severe weather, boil water advisories, and other emergencies.
To sign up, visit the link below:
Smart911 Emergency Alert Program Signup
If you have any questions or need help with setting up your Smart911 account, please call Ingham County 911's administrative line at 517.272.6026.
How to Report:
Call 911: For assaults in progress, robbery, gunshots, burglary in progress, larceny from auto in progress, fire or explosion, auto accidents involving injury, suspicious person, a person with weapons, odor of gas, or injuries.
Call 517.272.6026 for property crimes that occurred previously, auto accidents with no injury, abandoned vehicles, loud parties, or any incident not life-threatening.
When Calling the Police:
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Give your name, address, and phone number.
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Briefly describe the event - what happened, when, where, and who was involved.
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Important Suspect Information: Sex, race, age, height, weight, hair color, clothing, scars, marks, tattoos, beard, mustache, glasses, accent
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Important Vehicle Information: License plate number, make, model, body style, color, special descriptions (stickers, dents, or decals)
If you are interested in obtaining additional information regarding the Neighborhood Watch Program, please contact the Meridian Township Police Department at 517.853.4800.
