Westville Seeks Block-Watch Revival

To start a block watch in New Haven you don’t need a lot of meetings, or even an official OK from the police department. You need a strong commitment to know and keep in touch with your neighbors, and a desire to look for suspicious activity.

That’s what a group of Westville residents learned at an informational meeting held this past Thursday night at Davis Street Magnet School to help them band together to start, and in some cases reactivate, block watches.

At the gathering, Upper Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen told neighbors that a block watch is an almost immediate way that residents could be proactive in stopping crime in their community even as they wait to see what the police department might do about a substation. He said that there are 4,000 residents in each of the three wards that represent Westville, but only a handful of active block watches.

Brackeen said the meeting resulted from a public forum held at the end of last year where about 70 residents pressed for more police presence and other solutions to curb violence. At that meeting, residents asked that the police department consider creating a satellite location at the Davis Street Magnet School; more than 150 people signed a petition to that effect.

Neighbors were alarmed after there had been a shooting, a home invasion and mugging of longtime residents in a community that has a reputation for safety. Police were able to make an arrest in the early October home invasion, in which a gunman confronted an elderly Russian man and his family in a condo on Fountain Street, but the incident still rattled people.

Mia Duff (at left in photo), co-captain of the Lowin Avenue block watch, said that in addition to helping neighbors look out for suspicious or criminal activity, block watches can also keep up the neighborhood. ​“We’re concerned about crime, but we’re also concerned about beautification,” she said. Duff said her block has worked with City Hall’s anti-blight Livable City Initiative (LCI) to make sure vacant properties are kept up.

New Haven Police Sgt. Renee Dominguez (pictured), the top Westville/West Hills cop, said a block watch can cover a section of a street, or a small square. ​“It doesn’t have to be a lot,” she said. ​“There is no rule that says there has to be a maximum or minimum.” She said the most important thing is that people in block watches know their neighbors, keep an eye out and share information with the police.

Laura Cahn has been a part of the Cleveland Road block watch since she moved to New Haven in 2006. She said one of the most important first steps is probably the most tedious, and that’s going door-to-door and talking to neighbors.

“It is so worth it,” she said.

What should block-watchers be on the look out for? Dominguez said people who don’t belong; people looking into cars; and going down driveways where you know they don’t live.

She circulated the following safety tips in an email:

1. Lock your car doors, roll up your windows, and DON’T leave any valuables inside the vehicle, even if you think you hid them!
2. If you are planning on placing your purse, laptop, etc. in the trunk while shopping, put these items in the trunk PRIOR to arriving at your destination. People are always watching and if you arrive at the store, exit your car, open your trunk and place your laptop in it, and then do your shopping, you are announcing to anyone watching ​“break into my car.”
3. Lock and deadbolt your doors. If you have glass windows on the doors, I suggest making the deadbolt a double keyed deadbolt instead of key on the outside and turn latch on the inside. It is easy to break the window reach in and unlock the door.
4. When you leave and are sleeping LOCK your windows! Especially the first floor windows, but we have seen entry gained through the second floor windows as well.
5. Don’t leave ladders out in the open. This creates an opportunity to enter through your second floor open window.
6. Check your Bilco door to make sure it is also locked. If the inside locking system is not as strong as it used to be, considering also locking it from the outside with a hefty lock.
7. Consider installing motion sensors in your rear yard/driveway/on the garage, etc.
8. Keep your porch light on. The cover of darkness is an intruder’s best friend! Light up your house and make it less of a target. The light also helps in case you need the police. It is easier for us locate your home if your light is on.
9. Make sure your house has a clearly marked house number. This also will help police/fire/ambulance coming to your home to find it quickly in the event of an emergency.
10. Report street lights out using seeclickfix.com. In order to report the lights out you will need the pole number and address of the pole.
11. Seeclickfix can also be used to report pot holes, tree trimming, graffiti, downed traffic sign, etc. This is a great tool and all the city departments monitor it. Do not use this to report police matters that require an officer to come to you. The site is not used to dispatch officers to calls.
12. If you have a cell phone, tablet, etc with a location tracking device on it (ie: find my iPhone), make sure you enable the device and also remember your user name and password. This is a great tool in helping locate these items if lost or stolen.

To learn more about starting a block watch click here.