Recently, my home was burglarized and after the grief of losing several computer and electronic possessions, I started to think about how I would prevent this from happening in the future. Immediately, I bought a basic alarm protection package – but the more that I read about the subject, the more I am realizing that my neighbors are really the best type of protection. Even some co-workers who live in Round Rock, and consider it the safest city in the U.S., had to bear a rash of robberies conducted during broad daylight, and could stand some neighborhood co-operation.
I found a neighborhood website that referenced a checklist issued by the local police department on what to do to form a “blockwatch” or “neighborhood watch” and here are the first 3 steps:
- Talk with immediate neighbors and get their buy in as being part of a core group of people
- Contact your police department district representative office. They may be available to speak or consult with concerns.
- Design a flyer to promote the neighborhood meetings (but don’t place in the mailbox if it doesn’t have a stamp – the U.S. post office is touchy about this).
Reading those initial steps seem easy enough and at the very least will give neighbors more awareness of who you are and the existence of a neighborhood group. The thing that struck me as very “old world” was handing out flyers door to door. It would take 1/10th the time to just use a postcard and the MapMail product. Just draw out your neighborhood boundaries on a Google map and send a simple announcement card, completely online.
If you want to get a little more advanced, or just wanted to commiserate with homeowners about all the renters in your neighborhood, you could even set up a simple demographic filter like the one below, so you only contact homeowners.
After the first few meetings, you’ll likely have enough email addresses that you can just create a small email list to contact the active neighbors. But there may be a need to do new mailings every few months just to involve those new to the neighborhood or whose interest level changes. Anyway, knowing your neighbors is valuable not just in terms of security, but also in creating a sense of community for yourself and for your family. (Wow, can you tell I’m about to be a new dad? 
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