Neighborhood Watch

The key to a safe community is crime awareness and neighborhood involvement. The Neighborhood Watch Program is a volunteer program to reduce crime in neighborhoods through the coordinated efforts of homeowners and the Prince William County Police Department. By participating in the Neighborhood Watch program, Saybrooke residents are provided with free crime prevention training as well as monthly crime reports.

Neighborhood Watch neighborhoods are believed to be twenty times safer than those areas without the program. We are happy to be one of more than 150 Neighborhood Watch Groups operating in Prince William County.

Saybrooke's Neighborhood Watch program kicked-off in July of 2003 with great success! Our new organization has been commended for its efforts and participation by being selected for use by Prince William County Police Department's "Project 365" - a program which promotes anti-crime environment though education and enforcement, and ultimately in police-community partnership.

Saybrooke participated in our first Annual National Night Out event on Saturday, August 2, 2003. It was a great success, and it even earned us coverage in the Bull Run Observer! Thanks to everyone who came out to greet the National Night Out Motorcade and to welcome the Prince William County Officers and McGruff, the Crime Dog, to our community. We had a great turn out, despite the rain. Thanks to everyone who helped set up, pop popcorn, stuff bags, and put up decorations. Thanks to Officer Harman for all her hard work in helping us get our Neighborhood Watch Program up and running. The Officers told us that Saybrooke had the best turn out of all communities participating in the National Night Out Motorcade this year. Way to go Saybrooke!!

Our next step now is to organize the Block Captains, and set up teams, respectively. The Neighborhood Watch meeting for Block Captains is scheduled for November 18, 2003, at 7 p.m. at the Clubhouse. This meeting will allow us to set our times and dates to patrol, and get the process organized. We are still in need of Block Captains for the townhomes, Youngtree, part of Upper Mill Loop, and Luck Penny/Hammond. If you are not on these streets, but would like to participate, you can be a floater Captain, which means you are a Block Captain for a street you don't live on - we do have a few of them already.

Remember to keep your eyes and ears open!