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Blockwatch Beat: Your Westside resource

(by Lisa Grazier, Guest Columnist - September 03, 2009)

Recently, new blockwatches have been springing up around the Hilltop and Columbus’ Westside. Existing blockwatches have been expanding. While this is a wonderful and exciting development, it calls for a quick refresher course on some of our “basics.”

To form an official blockwatch is not a hard task, but it does take fortitude. First, the person who takes the initiative to get started should contact the Strategic Response Bureau (SRB) of the Columbus Division of Police and ask for help from Sgt. Kemmerling. He can also be contacted at RKemmerling@columbuspolice.org. 

The SRB requires three informational meetings with interested residents for the formation of a blockwatch. The person who makes the initial contact may be asked to be the coordinator of the blockwatch.

In order for the blockwatch to be official, it must be registered with the SRB and assigned a community liaison officer. By following this protocol, the fledgling blockwatch will be assured of support from the Division and credibility with the City of Columbus and resources such as code enforcement officers.

So how do you use your blockwatch and why should you bother? A blockwatch is unique in that its only focus is on safety and crime prevention. The purpose of the blockwatch is to educate and inform residents about criminal actions and how to prevent them. They also help the police keep a community safe by patrolling (through training with the Division) and watching out for each other.

In order for this to work, a chain of command is set up. The coordinator is the direct contact with the police and code enforcement. That person can spend hours on the phone and computer working on tasks such as sending out information, creating a newsletter, setting up meetings for the residents and responding to residential queries.

Captains are the links from the residents on their block or area to the coordinator. Residents can call their captains and/or talk with them, and the captains relay any important information to the coordinators. 

In order for the blockwatch to be effective, it is important for the coordinator to be the contact for the police and code enforcement. This alleviates confusion and helps to keep information streamlined.  

Sometimes it can take days or even weeks to hear back from police about items.  If it is an ongoing investigation, they cannot reveal any information. Although this may be frustrating, it is important to note that receiving information back from your police department is not often instantaneous.  

Another way that blockwatches can help is to train and educate residents on how and when to call 911 and 645-4545.

It can be confusing and upsetting when a caller is witnessing a crime or is trying to prevent a crime and they cannot give detailed information the way the operator would like to hear it. Or perhaps the person is doing their best and the operator is rude. There are ways to address these situations and one of them is through education at blockwatch meetings. A representative of the radio room can attend meetings and explain procedural and descriptive practices, for example. 

The Columbus Division of Police and code enforcement work hand-in-hand to keep our communities safe and enjoyable places to live. We can help them focus on that by providing information that keeps criminals out of our neighborhoods and creates a close knit community.

As Camp Chase Blockwatch’s motto states, “Crime is negative, but community input is positive!” 

Since crime knows no boundaries, we must all work together to keep our communities and neighborhoods wonderful places to live.

Lisa Grazier is coordinator of Camp Chase Blockwatch.

*Editor’s note: Due to the new bi-weekly schedule of the Messenger, the Blockwatch Beat may appear less frequently.