A good-neighbors policy and an upcoming community event in Waimea can help Kauaians keep a healthy perspective on recent major crime on the island. Neighborhood Watch, which started in California and has reached all the way here in its nationwide
A good-neighbors policy and an upcoming community event in Waimea can help
Kauaians keep a healthy perspective on recent major crime on the
island.
Neighborhood Watch, which started in California and has reached all
the way here in its nationwide expansion, is a citizen-based program with a
simple message from its participants: We’re watching.
Advised by Kaua’i
Police but organized by residents themselves, Neighborhood Watch numbers about
150 people who make no secret about keeping an eye on their homes, vehicles and
those of their neighbors. The watchdogging apparently works. Police officials
say burglaries and other property crimes drop as much as 75 percent in
neighborhoods where watches are started.
Much worse crime has some West
Side-area residents — especially females reeling from the murders of two women
and the brutal attack on a third this year — afraid to walk alone or go about
other activities that once were considered free of risk of violence. In and
around Waimea, there are people who don’t want fear to rule. So they’ve
organized an early-evening walk for Oct. 20 to serve as a demonstration that,
with sensible precaution, their community can be safe and peaceful. Police and
others will be on hand with safety tips for adults and children alike.
In
big cities and metropolitan areas, crimefighting and reassuring efforts like
the Waimea walk and Neighborhood Watch are called taking back the streets. It’s
the same thing even on rural-flavored Kaua’i, just on a smaller scale. Some
proactive measures now can help keep it that way, which is an even better way
of putting minds at ease.
