A Writer and the Neighborhood Watch Program
by Shirley Parker
Although Jack Wolf encouraged me to begin a spy thriller on this topic, I’ve decided I’d better stick to its planned “article” format at this point in time, if I’m to finish it at all.
My aim is to make some of our writers aware of the benefits that come from participating in your Neighborhood Watch program. Grist for the writer’s mill is a rich by-product, of course, not to be valued lightly. So much is going on, right under our noses. Much of it is good and kind and charitable; much is definitely not that at all. There is outright, rollicking humor at the sheer stupidity of some of the wannabe criminal element; there is pathos and tragedy to bring you up short and have you thank God for the blessings in your own life.
For those unfamiliar with the neighborhood watch concept, many cities and smaller communities in western countries have established formal districts of one to many blocks of homes to encourage residents to be the eyes and ears of their overworked local police force. Lest anyone reading misunderstand—this is NOT communist-style spying on your neighbors and reporting them to a brutal government. It is also NOT a vigilante organization.
First, neighborhood watch means looking out for the welfare of your family and your neighbors, keeping an eye on strangers and unfamiliar vehicles in the neighborhood, and letting the police know immediately when danger threatens or an activity is downright suspicious. The police don’t want you confronting anyone; just take in as much detail as you can and call them quickly. You’re a writer. You thrive on details, on getting it right.
Second, neighborhood watch means being acutely aware of what is going on around you, in order to protect yourself, your family and your neighbors (especially children and senior citizens) from evil that has sprung up among us like poisonous mushrooms in an over-watered lawn. We can do a little or a lot, but we need to do something to help preserve our freedoms and our right to live in our own homes and walk on our own streets without harassment. Attending monthly meetings led by the assigned neighborhood watch officer (usually the Senior Lead Officer for the division or part of the division) is eye-opening.
Delivering monthly newsletters to doorsteps isn’t difficult. If you are shy or can’t handle the extreme heat of summer, for example, just take enough newsletters each month for your own block, and then make the “run” at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I usually meet a couple of miffed cats staring at front doors for their late breakfast, a few out-of-tune crows practicing for avian Sunday services, a groggy neighbor trying to pick up the local daily without spilling his mug of coffee, and a protective, elderly Labrador Retriever. Everyone else is pretty much sleeping in, or gone to play golf, as the case may be.
Third, by attending neighborhood watch meetings at least several times a year, we can spend a portion of our highly prized writing time to learn more about human nature before trying to write about it. Why do people do crazy things? We should care why others don’t protect what is theirs, why they let evil take over. (Pain avoidance comes to mind.) Too often, after a day in the trenches, good people (including the creative ones like us) flee home through howling traffic, like a fox eluding the hounds, except that the voice of cars and trucks is not melodious. Grateful to have outsmarted the enemy again, we curl up in the farthest corner of our den, near that secret exit, to seek the sleep of exhaustion that arrives from an exhilarating hunt, with us having been the prey.
Fourth, you will learn a great deal from being part of neighborhood watch, especially how to keep yourself safe and how to recognize information useful to peace officers without putting yourselves in danger. This in itself stimulates the brain. (The police will let you know they don’t want “Miss Marple” getting involved in their business.)
So, not to alarm any of you, but can you recognize gang clothing? When should you cross the street to get out of the way of shuffling young men? Should you make eye contact with them, or smirk at the homeless fellow plodding a few yards behind approaching gang members? What’s the difference between gang graffiti and a tagger’s work in your community? Do you know when the Mexican Mafia is defacing property? Talk to your police or sheriff’s department. If you don’t have a neighborhood watch program, ask when the next community presentations or town hall meetings are being held. Ask to listen to an expert on narcotics, gangs, or whatever topic you don’t understand.
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To switch sides here, are you yourself under surveillance with or without knowing it and for no known reason? Do you know who can prowl your neighborhood in an “agency vehicle” and get away with it, or lease one for an executive that looks exactly like an official vehicle? (They’re often all-black Crown Victorias or Lincolns.) You might be shocked to learn that freelance photographers on night assignment to photograph accident scenes, among others, can legally have the use of such a vehicle. May the blood-sucking paparazzi never achieve that ability.
It’s always smart to be on the same side as your local law enforcement at all times! But when bizarre, potentially violent events start happening around you, it’s a real source of strength to have a friend who can tell you how to talk to fellow officers (or the not-always-bright dispatcher!) to get immediate help in that community—or at least have it arrive within minutes instead of hours. They need a code to summon them. Obviously, it’s not your job to provide the code, but if you are vague, as in “something is going to happen somewhere on this street sometime,” the patrol car can’t be sent out. There isn’t a code for a definite maybe. I wish there were, due to the need for “preventive maintenance,” but understaffed police departments probably wouldn’t be able to respond to it anyway.
I’m suggesting that, as writers, we step outside of our comfort zones to report trespassers in our yard (or the neighbor’s) but first look into installing padlocks on side gates. They’re a pain because you must remember to unlock them on meter reader and gardener days, but well worth the hassle. We also need to step out of our shells and call police when people carry “stuff” down our neighbor’s driveway, especially if they’ve draped a bath towel over whatever it is. We should have the courage to report the screams of a woman being assaulted or of an animal being beaten. Let’s call 911 when a child is dragged into a car, even if we think she might just be “a little brat acting up again.” Go with your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, get on the cell phone. There are screams and then there are screams. Any mother recognizes terror when she hears it, and not just from her own children.
As to how to report incidents, we write down license plate numbers, and stay out of the way. Most of us lack the physical strength and/or agility to get involved ourselves, unless we are many who can pile on a suspect. But, we can pick up a phone! And if we don’t do it, who will?
A writer’s responsibility is to chronicle in some fashion our times, whether it be as reporters or fiction writers or someone in between. If we stand silently on the sidelines and observe all the time without “getting our hands dirty,” we may not be as objective as we think we are. Just letting things happen is taking sides. We must sometimes communicate the unseemly as well as the beautiful, to know what is going on beneath the pristine patina of our neighborhoods. We cannot save everyone, but we can save someone by being aware, by using our God-given gifts of observation and communication to provide assistance.
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Shirley Ann Parker’s luminous stories are about
people and places we have all known wherever we live. They are the real
heroes and heroines of the world, those for whom every day may require a
strong will and a battle to live, with more than a dash of good humor sprinkled
in! The real mysteries of life lie in how these people keep going from day
to day. |
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Thanks Shirley for the article... John Wolf
