Last summer, Evanston resident Irene Moore noticed a jump in property crime among her neighbors.
“There were a lot of robberies,” said Moore, who lives near Porter Park in northwest Evanston. “They weren’t just ‘Take the bike off the porch,’ they were ‘We break into your house, we take your flat screen, we take your car keys, we load your TV into your car and we drive away.'”
The escalation in the severity of the crimes prompted Moore to found a Neighborhood Watch group for her community, she said. The group, which kicks off with a starter meeting Wednesday, is one of a growing number of Evanston watch groups formed in the past few years, said Officer Loyce Spells, Neighborhood Watch coordinator for the Evanston Police Department.
Spells said he thinks support from the police department and the city led to the increase in groups.
Not only do Neighborhood Watch groups help residents, they also assist the EPD, Spells said.
“We think it’s very important that residents know each other, and more than know each other, it’s important that they watch out for each other,” he said. “Because there are only 160-something officers-it’s not enough to be on every corner.”
Maria Marini founded the Noyes Ewing Neighborhood Watch group in December 2008, and the group currently has more than 100 members. Marini said the program has made a noticeable difference in her community’s safety.
“Our neighborhood used to have a disproportionate percentage of property crimes, I think, (relative) to the city crime rates,” she said. “Now in our immediate area we are very rarely victimized, so I think it’s definitely paid off.”
Marini said it’s difficult to gauge the effectiveness of the groups in preventing crime. Even when criminals “targeted” her area, removing motion detectors and lights, break-ins never occurred, she said.
“Nobody’s been robbed on our block for over a year,” she said.
Spells said the Neighborhood Watch program works only when residents “learn about the culture” of their own neighborhoods to quickly identify something that’s out of place. The Noyes Ewing group’s close relationships are a major reason for its success, Marini said.
“The singular reason why it’s really beneficial is you really get to know your neighbors,” Marini said.
Dorothe Magid, who runs a group of 13 homes called Colfax Neighbors, agreed a tight community bond makes a difference.
“We already have our block parties,” she said. “We’re a bit more friendly, so this kind of brings it to another level.”
When a neighbor knows what to look for, crime has less opportunity to flourish, Spells said.
“It makes you feel safer knowing your neighbors are keeping an eye out for you,” Magid said.
