National Night Out is a nationally recognized program that occurs annually on the first Tuesday in August. This program encourages neighborhoods to participate in crime prevention programs in their area. Studies show that when neighborhoods have a strong sense of community and participate in crime prevention programs, they are less likely to become victims of crimes. The City of Prescott Police Department recommends Block Watch groups host their annual meetings on National Night Out.

If you would like officers, fire fighters, and city officials to visit your meeting on National Night Out, contact us at 928-777-1988 ext 5611. Use the Application for National Night Out to coordinate your neighborhood’s effort with the Police Department.

Why Block Watch?

• Reducing the risk of being a victim of crime
• Recognizing and reporting suspicious activity
• Identifying issues that may impact your neighborhood
• Getting to know your neighbors better
• Partnering with our police department to prevent crime

The Block Watch program, also known as Neighborhood Watch, is a program that encourages neighbors watch out for one another. This program promotes an active participation by residents, in partnership with the police, to reduce and improve the quality of life in your neighborhood. Block Watch works best when neighbors work together to identify, deter, and report crimes. We encourage you to be a good witness and refrain from actually intervening in in-progress criminal activity. If you are interested in organizing a Block Watch group in your area, download the Block/Neighborhood Watch Application, and contact us in Crime Prevention at 928-777-1988 ext 5611.

Initially, a member of the Prescott Police Department will attend your first meeting and will explain how the program works, along with your responsibility as neighbors. Crime prevention literature and window signs are provided to all residents who attend.

At the end of the first meeting, the group will elect a Block Watch Captain or Leader who will be the liaison between neighbors and the police department. The Captain’s responsibilities include:

• Arranging for an annual meeting,
• Maintaining a list of all members,
• Establishing and distributing a phone tree,
• Inviting new neighbors into the program,
• Sharing information sent out by the police department.

After the initial meeting, we will arrange for a city department to erect a Block Watch sign at the entrance and exit to your area. The signs will remain posted as long as your group fulfills the annual meeting requirement; therefore, remaining an active status.

Similar to the Neighborhood Watch Program, but geared toward businesses.

No Trespass Application

The services we will be offering for our community business watch program are:

Crime Alerts, via email
Security Surveys
Robbery Prevention Education
Loss Prevention, including Shoplifting, and Employee Theft Prevention
Identity Theft, Check and Credit Card Frauds
Personal Safety, Fire Safety and Code Enforcement Assistance

Objectives of the Business Watch Program:

• To encourage businesses to watch out for one another
• To educate local businesses in various crime prevention topics
• To establish positive communications between businesses and the Prescott Police Department

Community Crime Watch is the opportunity for all of us to become involved in making our community safer by recognizing and reporting crime.

Community Crime Watch is the process of recognizing, observing, and reporting situations appearing to be suspicious. The people reporting suspicious situation are workers, like you who are out in the community on a daily basis providing an extra set of eyes and ears for us.

Examples of community workers include postal workers, electric and gas company workers, and cable installers just to name a few.

Community Crime Watch Pamphlet

“CPTED is the proper design and effective use of the built environment which may lead to a reduction in the fear and incidence of crime, and an improvement of the quality of life.” – National Crime Prevention Institute

We live with crime every day. It has become, unfortunately, a fact of life. Discussions on the subject have traditionally focused much less on crime prevention than on arrest and punishment; a measure that cannot be taken until after a crime has been committed. Only in the last 20 years have designers and architects begun to see the need to plan and build with more in mind than just the traditional threats of nature: fire, earthquakes and hurricanes. They must now consider the threat of crime.
Enter a new approach to crime prevention – Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design – or CPTED. Much more far-reaching than dead bolts on doors and locks on windows, CPTED crime prevention principles can be applied easily and inexpensively to building or remodeling, and have been implemented in communities across the nation. The results have been impressive; in some CPTED communities, criminal activity has decreased by as much as 40 percent. What is the secret to CPTED crime prevention? Design that eliminates or reduces criminal behavior and at the same time encourages people to “keep an eye out” for each other. These are just a few of the ingredients that go into creating an effective CPTED crime prevention environment; that is, a safer more livable community.

The Four Strategies of CPTED

Natural Surveillance – A design concept directed primarily at keeping intruders easily observable. Promoted by features that maximize visibility of people, parking areas and building entrances: doors and windows that look out on to streets and parking areas; pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and streets; front porches; adequate nighttime lighting.

Territorial Reinforcement – Physical design can create or extend a sphere of influence. Users then develop a sense of territorial control while potential offenders, perceiving this control, are discouraged. Promoted by features that define property lines and distinguish private spaces from public spaces using landscape plantings, pavement designs, gateway treatments, and “CPTED” fences.

Natural Access Control – A design concept directed primarily at decreasing crime opportunity by denying access to crime targets and creating in offenders a perception of risk. Gained by designing streets, sidewalks, building entrances and neighborhood gateways to clearly indicate public routes and discouraging access to private areas with structural elements.

Target Hardening – Accomplished by features that prohibit entry or access: window locks, dead bolts for doors, interior door hinges.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

Presented along with each of these CPTED strategies are guidelines, which, as a homeowner, builder or remodeler, you can apply to reduce the fear and incidence of crime and improve the quality of life.

Prescott Police offers an area to dispose of RX and OTC drugs.  Remove your pills, capsules, and tablets from their containers and place them in a Ziploc bag.

We do NOT take liquids, salves, ointments, aerosols, or needles.

Bring your bags to the counter and request access to the drop box.

For more information, call 928-777-1988 ext 5611.