By Steve Burns
Community Awareness Committee Chair
Desert Ridge Community Association
Crime can happen anywhere, even in Desert Ridge. But thanks to the off-duty police patrol program, instituted by the Desert Ridge Community Association Board of Directors, crime in Desert Ridge has been reduced dramatically. The DRCA Board is also optimistic that the new strategic partnership we recently established with Silent Witness will drive crime down even further. However, neither of these programs can maximize their crime-reducing potential without one major component, the residents of Desert Ridge. As a community we must continue to be vigilant and keep an eye out for crime in our neighborhoods. That is why it is important to have a Neighborhood Block Watch program in place.
A recent event here in Desert Ridge illustrates just how important a neighborhood block watch can be. On a Saturday morning, sometime around 11am, a homeowner was working in his backyard when a man jumped over the wall. The homeowner’s wife called 9-1-1, and then one of her block watch captains. The block watch captain immediately began to alert the other members of the block watch, and two members rushed over to their neighbor’s house, but the man had already left.
One of the block watch captains then began to drive around the surrounding neighborhoods searching for the man described by his neighbor. He soon came across a Phoenix Police officer in his squad car. After a brief conversation with the officer, he learned that the man from the backyard fit the description of a suspect in an alleged burglary that happened approximately an hour earlier in a nearby neighborhood.
The block watch captain quickly returned to his own neighborhood where the suspect had been spotted again. This time one of the neighbors actually found the man in his garage and chased him out. By that point, 15 individuals had emerged from the 22 homes participating in that neighborhood block watch program and many of them had joined in the search.
Several block watch members called the police from their cell phones as they followed the suspect from a distance, while other block watch members set up a perimeter around the neighborhood. When the police arrived, the block watch members were able to tell them that they had narrowed the suspect’s location to just three homes. The block watch members continued to watch the perimeter aiding the police without getting in their way. After a brief search the police found the suspect hiding in a storage box in the backyard of one of those homes. The suspect was taken into custody and booked on multiple charges.
The people that stepped up and aided the police in apprehending the suspect are neighbors just like yours and mine. Had there not been a block watch in place, it would have been much more difficult for the police to track down and apprehend the suspect. I am proud to be associated with a neighborhood block watch program and grateful for the wonderful neighbors throughout Desert Ridge who have stepped up on many occasions.
Phoenix police officers do a fantastic job but they can’t be everywhere all the time. That is why it is so important to know and communicate with your neighbors and to keep looking for things that are out of place in your neighborhood. You can help make Desert Ridge a safer and better place to live by participating in your own neighborhood block watch program. If you’re interested in learning how to start a neighborhood block watch program, please contact the Desert Ridge Community Association office or contact Community Action Officer Tim Mitten from the Phoenix Police Department at 602-495-5238.
