Crime & Safety

Farmington Hills Police Revitalize Neighborhood Watch Program

Get reconnected June 11 with a program that gives residents the tools they need to prevent crime in their neighborhoods.

The revival of the Farmington Hills Neighborhood Watch crime prevention program begins June 11, with a 7 p.m. city-wide meeting at the Costick Center

Kristen Bixman, the Farmington Hills Police Department's new Crime Prevention Technician, said the meeting is "probably the first of its kind" and is made possible by the 2011 voter-approved public safety millage. Cuts to department personnel before the millage included crime prevention specialists. 

While neighborhood leaders are needed, she said, the meeting "is just basically open to anyone to learn how to use the tools in their community." 

Neighborhood Watch is a nation-wide program, Sergeant Brian Bastianelli said, coordinated through USA On Watch, which supplies information and training. It establishes relationships between citizens and police officers and encourages people to report suspicious activity.

"Neighborhood Watch has always been a mainstay of community policing in our community," Bastianelli said. "We're focusing on re-establishing contact with people who were involved for many years ... It's time for us to get our feet on the ground and to reconnect."

The department has also reached out to apartment and condo communities that have not traditionally been involved in Neighborhood Watch, he said. 

Police Chief Chuck Nebus said he is "very pleased" that the program is moving forward. While the department shares alerts with residents via social media, "nothing replaces the personal contact between neighbors and the partnership between the police and residents." 

He said when police arrest suspects in a home where a break-in has happened, "it is always a result of a phone call from an alert resident."

"Citizens acting as our eyes and ears, quick patrol response, quality evidence technician work and great follow up by detectives is the reason Farmington Hills recorded the lowest number of total burglaries in the history of the city in 2012," he said.

While registration is not required for the June 11 meeting, Bixman said organizers would like to know how many people are coming to ensure they have enough materials. To RSVP, write to CrimePrevention@fhgov.com. 


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