Burke Centre Area Gets Trained for a Neighborhood Watch

Around 30 people turned out for a Neighborhood Watch Training event at the Oaks Community Center in Burke Centre Wednesday night.

The West Springfield Police District's Crime Prevention Officer JT Frey gave a presentation talking about the area and some of the most common crimes.

The West Springfield District is the largest police district in the county. Frey said that probably a quarter of the county’s population lives in the district, with several high schools in the area.

“In the last six years the number one crime in West Springfield is larceny from vehicles,” Frey said. “If you want to prevent 60 percent of crime in the area, just lock your doors and take your stuff with you.”

Frey said that the longest active running neighborhood watch in the United States is within Fairfax County, a group called Camelot in the Mason district that was formed in 1979. (Frey claimed a portion of $10 million if anyone in the crowd won a trivia contest on the radio with the fact.)

“The average length of a neighborhood watch is 18 months,” Frey said. “The ones that have successful programs have a very passionate, engaged committed coordinators or a set of coordinators that help keep things cohesive.”

Frey serves as the liaison between the police and the neighborhood watches in the West Springfield police district.

“We don’t put any parameters on you for your neighborhood watch program other than a certain couple things,” Frey said.

Members must be 18 and are supposed to go through a training session before they start. Frey says that there are lots of opportunities to get trained around the area, if you can’t get to one in your neighborhood; other areas of Burke Centre including the Ponds and the Woods are interested in starting neighborhood watches as well.

“We want to be that visual deterrent out in the community,” Frey said. “Whether we see the criminals or not, we want to take them and push them somewhere else. Let’s push them across 123.”

Frey said that for a neighborhood watch to deter criminals, the watch must be easily identifiable. The nearly 160 members of the active neighborhood watch in Kings Park West in Fairfax wear orange hunter hats. He said that those hats have also helped the watch build up their numbers as well.

He suggested that the Oaks neighborhood try to get people to sign up before Spring Break, due to a traditional spike in crime during that week. Burke Centre Conservancy Oaks Trustee Luanne Smith suggested, to the general agreement of those present, that the neighborhood watch be incorporated into the current neighborhood council. The council will spread the word to the community via existing e-mail newsletters and networks.

Frey also went over the rules for those serving on neighborhood watches. Patrol members do not possess police powers, should not challenge anyone, and should never get in anybody’s business, Frey said.

“That’s one thing I can never get the men to understand,” Frey said. “The women never have any problem.”

Frey joked that guys tend to ignore the sixth sense telling them to stay out of trouble.

“Let the police come in and do the dirty work,” Frey said. “We don’t want you to be brave, we just want you to be great witnesses. And we want you to be alive.”

Patrol members are not allowed to pursue vehicles to get the license number and cannot enforce traffic violations.

“All you want to do is watch [the suspected criminal], record what they do and report them to the police department,” Frey said.

Neighborhood Watch members are also not allowed to drink alcohol or carry a weapon while on patrol.

Frey said that even without a neighborhood watch, residents can help reduce crime simply by being alert to the area around their house. Pay attention during your daily routine. Is anything different? Are there any suspicious people or vehicles? Make sure to check on neighbors you know are housebound.

Wondering about whether you should call the police if you see something suspicious? “I argue they should call the police department on 99 percent of everything,” Frey said in regard to what incidents should qualify for a call. “The hardest thing I’ve ever done is try to get people to call the police.”

The non-emergency number for the police department is  703-691-2131. Be prepared with information on what happened, where it happened (with information on the closest cross street or landmark), wehtehr there was a weapon involved. If you are in a neighborhood watch, identify that to the police.

If you suspect a crime is in progress or if someone is in danger, call 911. 

Frey gave plenty of other tips for potential Neighborhood Watch members:

• You shouldn’t be doing neighborhood watch alone. Always patrol with a buddy.
• He suggests members of the watch always bring something to write with when on patrol, in case they need to take down license plate numbers or other descriptions. Frey said if you run a patrol team out of a car, one member is meant to drive while the other is supposed to observe and write down information.
• Don’t do anything predictable. Frey told a story about how he spoke to kids at a park who knew exactly when a neighborhood watch member came by at a certain time each Friday night.
  “If the kids know when you’re coming by, the criminals do too,” Frey said with a laugh.