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Introduction

Crime prevention is not, as many would believe, a new topic. It is only recently though that police departments across the country have come to realize that preventing crime in specific neighborhoods is one solution to the increasing burdens placed upon their shrinking resources.

The Seville Police Department is no exception. With an increasing workload, it is imperative that measures be taken now to keep crime in your neighborhood in check. Many people, especially those living in larger cities, believe that crimes are just a fact of life and accept it as fact that there is little to be done about the problem. They cite the fact that there are only so many police and too many thugs and grow accustomed to reading about the problems in their areas¹.

The truth is, however, that neighborhoods and individual citizens can make a difference.

Neighborhoods with active crime resistance programs have experienced great success in reducing crime in their area. These anti-crime programs include friendly "neighbor watching neighbor" programs in urban areas to roving citizen patrols in high crime neighborhoods.

Crime resistance is not a topic that needs to be taught. We all know what it is that we should do to prevent crime in our neighborhoods, we have heard it all before a hundred times: lock your doors; keep your garage door closed; use timers on your lights when you leave; don't give information out over the phone and on and on and on. However, few people actually practice these time proven techniques.

Where are your children at this very moment? Who are they with? What do you know about their friends? Is your garage door closed? Is your house locked? Do your windows and sliding glass doors have pins in them to keep them from being jimmied open? Do you lock your car doors every night? Do you place your belongings inside each night?

Few people could answer the questions above truthfully and still say that they are doing everything that they could do to prevent themselves and their families from becoming a victim of crime. Look around your neighborhood tonight and count the number of garage doors that are left open and the number of bikes left laying in front yards and then imagine what a burglar or vandal would see.

Crime prevention is not a matter of attending a meeting, locking a door or calling the police. It is a way of life that becomes second nature. It is an attitude; a way of thinking and behaving that is passed on to other neighbors and to your children. It is an understanding of the problem and a commitment to do something about it. It is healthy, civic involvement in the neighborhood where you have chosen to live and to raise your family. It is the understanding that while the police department is concerned about the problem, we can't do it alone².

¹ 23,000,000 U.S. households were victimized by crime in 1991,24% of the population
² In the United States, there are only 2.2 full time police officers for every 1,000 citizens

The Problem In Seville

Every police officer in Seville hears the same comments over and over again every year. "This is Seville, nothing ever happens here." True, Seville has not had the same type of problems associated with many other villages and cities. Still, the problem here is increasing.

One factor in this increase is that people simply don't realize that the village has changed over the years. That as the county has grown and as Wadsworth, Medina and Brunswick grow, so will the crime problem in our area. A rural area with easy access to the interstate system and near a county border makes Seville an ideal area for criminals.

In 1991 and 1992, the Seville Police Department averaged 3044 complaints. In 1998 the police department handled 5033 complaints. One important fact to keep in mind when looking at these numbers, is that the FBI estimates that only one-third of all criminal activity is ever reported to the police. This means that the actual crime rate in your neighborhood might actually be three times higher than what is reported!

The greatest problems thus far in Seville continue to be vandalism and thefts. While it is true that the problem is not as great as in other Villages, the problem is certainly increasing. Youngsters with no place to go often occupy their time in mischievous ways, and the current year has been no exception. Mailboxes have been vandalized, houses and cars have been egged, property has been spray-painted and numerous items have been reported as stolen.

What Is The Solution?

While there is no one, single solution to the crime problem in Seville, neighborhood watch programs can go a long way towards reaching the goal.

Law enforcement has the legislated duty of enforcing the laws of the State and of the Village. The Ohio Revised code states that "A law enforcement officer who finds a person violating a law of this state or an ordinance of a village shall arrest and detain that person " This one simple entry in the law book places a duty and responsibility on the police department for enforcing the laws. However, it is the citizens of the community that have had the traditional responsibility of preventing crime, and of reporting the crimes that they witness or become aware of to the police department.

This tradition is deeply rooted in history. Ninth century England found that country divided into huge tracts of land called "shires." Each shire was assigned a caretaker, called a "reeve," whose job was to look after the people in his area. It is from this ancient "shire reeve" that we derive our modern term, "sheriff." The Shire Reeve had "Posse Comitus," or the "power of the county." He could, in times of trouble, enlist the citizens to help him in keeping the peace. Every male between the ages of 18 and 80 was required to help when summoned. When the citizens observed a crime, they would detain the criminal and "raise a hue and cry," until the reeve arrived and took charge of the prisoner. Later in English history, we find citizens patrolling the streets and exclaiming on the hour, "All is well !" if such were the case.

Early Americans relied on a simple technique called "neighbor helping neighbor." This technique was applied not only to the problem of crime in their area, but also to their very survival. It is this time-honored technique that we will be concentrating on here.

What Is A Neighborhood Watch?

The neighborhood watch program is a network of neighbors who make a commitment to each other to watch over each other's property. By organizing an entire neighborhood, it is possible to reduce the amount of crime in that neighborhood, often by huge percentages.

Some neighborhood watch programs consist simply of a couple of neighbors who agree to watch over each others' property when the other is out of town. Others involve monthly meetings and roving citizen patrols. The best program however, is the one that works in our community. Neighborhood watch programs are the eyes and the ears of the police department. By training citizens to watch for certain criminal activities, it is possible to put great pressure on the criminals in a given area. Most criminals that we will deal with in Seville are amateurs looking for targets of opportunity. Remember, criminals are counting on the fact that most people simply won't get involved!

Why should I participate in a neighborhood watch program? The answers are many and varied. Past victims of crimes are the first to join such programs. They have learned from experience that being a victim often means much more than just a financial loss, even though some losses may be significant. The key to any such program is preventing the crime from occurring in the first place. Others have recognized that their investment in a neighborhood watch program can payoff in increased property values as well. One of the most common questions asked by prospective homebuyers is "What is the crime rate here." Still, the most rewarding prospect of a neighborhood watch program is the simple feeling of security, and of knowing that other people are watching out for your belongings and your family.

The Crime Equation

To understand what makes a neighborhood watch program successful, it is necessary to understand the types of crime and criminals expected. The majority of criminals in the Seville area have tended to be juveniles, usually staying near their own neighborhood. This year has seen an increase in the amounts of vandalism done in the area, a result of unsupervised juveniles.

For a crime to occur, two things are needed. The first ingredient to every crime is that there must be a perpetrator, or person who has the desire to commit the crime. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of criminals and more convicted criminals are being released into our neighborhoods every day³.

The second and final ingredient is that there must be an opportunity to commit the crime.

Perpetrator + Opportunity = Crime

The equation above shows that a person with the desire to commit a crime, who has the opportunity to do so, will commit the crime. There is little that can be done to eliminate the desire, or the perpetrator⁴. Jail and police seem to be of little concern to them and it is well known that the chances of being caught after a burglary or theft are slim. Across the nation only 14% of home burglaries ever result in an arrest. However, if we can eliminate the opportunity, the equation can not be completed!

The opportunity to commit the crime can be eliminated by placing a police officer at every home, by building fences around our neighborhoods, or by letting the criminal know that his every action is being watched by neighbors only too eager to see him arrested!

³ The FBI estimates that there are 35.3 million crimes committed each year
⁴ Ohio ranks sixth in the nation for the number of inmates being held in prison

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