East Court group discusses crime watch

Members of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association April 29 discussed ways to deter crime in the 1,400-household residential area and determine if there is enough support for a neighborhood watch.

Police officers from the city and Mott Community College were invited to share information with the group. Two coordinators from Central Park Neighborhood Watch also shared their experience developing a watch group.

Sgt. Lloyd Nicholson of the MCC police explained that his department patrols a one-mile residential radius around MCC in cooperation with the Flint Police Department.

"We're not here to take over the Flint police responsibilities, we're here to help them. We use the same radio frequencies. We'll even take nuisance calls about loud noise or barking dogs. Just call us," Nicholson said.

"With the number of members you have, a watch group could become very effective. We're here 24 hours a day for you," Nicholson added. "And we're here to help you develop your neighborhood watch plan. We will give you training but you need to decide what kind of a program you want. There are several ways to do this. You can be the eyes and ears for the police and report any suspicious activity. Or you can operate a car or foot patrol in your neighborhood. Whatever you decide, we'll help you," he said.

Nicholson also told the group that two new mini-police stations are planned for the Mott Community College's physical plant near Kearsley Park.

City Police Officer Chad Baldwin said the Mott police assist his department, which is welcome because of the increased workload and shortage of officers on the Flint force. Baldwin suggested the least the neighborhood group should do is put up neighborhood watch signs on homes and vehicles and tell a neighbor or call the police if your home will be vacant for any length of time.

Diana Goodell, from the Central Park Neighborhood Watch, explained one of the reasons her group decided to organize was that on average the city police are 16 calls behind.

Asked if the police could share any information of illegal activity with the group to determine a pattern of criminal activity, both police officers said that information was not currently available.

Councilman Dale Weighill (7th Ward) told the group he had requested that information from the police chief.

"It's taken me weeks and weeks to try to get a response from the chief of police," Weighill said. "I will contact the mayor to see how we can get the crime statistics," he said.

One member suggested that volunteers could be used to accumulate the police data and distribute it to the watch group. Another member suggested the information be shared on the Yahoo group web site.

Debi Spaleny, coordinator of the Central Park Neighborhood Watch, said she gives 15-minute mini-training sessions at each monthly neighborhood meeting. She said the Central Park watch group decided not to do foot or car patrols because the police said it was too dangerous.

Spaleny passed out a training sheet called, Describe the Suspect, illustrating how important it is for watch group members to notice details. She also provided the group with a document on how to start a neighborhood watch developed by the National Crime Prevention Council.

"This program has worked in New York City, Chicago and Boston," Spaleny said. "Our neighborhood is already noticing a big difference because our people our better observers and they are calling in with details. When you start watching criminals it makes them nervous — makes them want to leave. Our group decided that we wanted to be the eyes and ears for the Flint Police Department. We are taking our neighborhood back," she said.

A member of the Mott Park Neighborhood Watch group who attended the meeting said his group would assist the CCNA in developing their program.

The group discussed the party store at Court and Franklin streets as being a site that attracted criminal activity because it sells liquor, individual cigarettes and has a pay phone. A neighbor of the market said her husband couldn't cut the lawn without a market customer asking him for money.

The group decided the best way to handle this problem was to make a list of the neighbor's complaints and meet with the owner.

Ideas to reduce crime included encouraging neighbors to get to know each other so they can report any unusual activities, installing more outdoor lighting, sharing information about criminal activities with neighbors and never answering the door if you don't know who is outside.

Nicholson distributed a home security checklist asking members to use it to make their homes safer.

"The biggest thing we can do now is grow this group to five times our current size," Vice President Mike Keeler said.

Keeler explained that a separate committee would be formed based on the people who volunteer. He said another meeting would be held before the group's regular May 20 meeting. Information will also be available at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .