I'm a Neighborhood Watch 'Block Captain'.

[trof]

Seriously, I am.

We organized our Neighborhood Crime Watch about 2 years ago.
We're not in a high crime area, Far from it.
But we'd had a few thefts.
Dumb stuff, mainly from folks leaving cars in driveways unlocked.

We started it mainly to educate our neighbors and make them aware of ways they could thwart these (mostly) petty thefts.

Our chief of police was very helpful.
His department had an entire program ready to implement.
Community meetings, education, street signs (THIS IS A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH COMMUNITY), organization chart for our group, etc.

He explained to us that our police greatly depend on the eyes and ears of a community.
That makes sense.

He emphasized that we were NOT to be a vigilante 'posse'.
We were just to report any suspicious activity.

As a Block Captain, I'm just the guy responsible for a few homes/families in the neighborhood.
My job is to alert them to any suspicious activity I learn about.
It's a phone/email 'tree'.
It's also my job to forward such info to the police.
Example: "Joe Smith reported fishing tackle missing from his dock."

The guidelines as set out by the Neighborhood Watch Program and the police chief:
1. If you're not sure about something you see...call your Block Captain, or call the police at their regular number. NOT 911.
2. If you see what you think is a 'crime-in-progress', CALL 911!

The chief made it very clear that we were NOT to mount patrols, carry arms, etc.
That's the job of the police.
Our job was just to keep an eye out for suspicious activity and report it.

The Block Captain in Sanford, Florida sounds like a cop wanna be who thought he had (or wanted to have) a lot more authority than he did.
I am surprised that the local police didn't reign him in.
Your local police department sets up this program.
They should explain both your duties AND you limitations.

I hope his actions don't give Neighborhood Watch programs a bad name.
They're very beneficial to your neighbors and your police department.

[hlthe2b]

1. That's the way it is supposed to be....

(and admittedly, I sort of wanted to post a smart aleck comment when I saw your subject line, but nah... this whole Martin story is too damned serious)...

Kudos on your doing it the right way.

[Thinkingabout]

2. I too am a block captain. I do not go out with a weapon.

I am not the police and do not have their ability to handle matters. I observe and report and most of all encourage my neighbors to do the same, the more eyes the better. I also expect the police to investigate once they are on the scene.

[trof]

3. I have to wonder why the Sanford police did not handle this as a crime scene.

A man (boy) died violently.
The shooter was not taken into custody pending an investigation.
Much evidence was lost.
???

[Kolesar]

5. Zimmerman's father is a former judge, so maybe the police were covering for "their own"

The Sanford Chief of Police is definitely incompetent, whatever his motivation was for covering this up.

[ellisonz]

4. K & R

[jannyk]

6. K&R!

[xchrom]

7. I have a VERY bad opinion about my local list serve

Neighborhood watch Thingy.

Frankly - it's boiled down to vague racism - so & so came to my door asking for X looking for work - & people start snapping pics & sending them off.

They're always African American - they're always hysteria over load.

Yes - we have problems w/ break ins - but my opinion isn't favorable of these alerts.

[yardwork]

12. I've heard of this happening in my area, as well. Racial profiling.

My HOA does not have a neighborhood watch, although there has been talk of starting one. At least one of the residents is blatantly racist. Fortunately, the rest of us strongly disagree with her - we're appalled by her behavior in all respects, she's the stereotypical neighbor from hell - but I can just imagine how she would react to being empowered further.

I helped start a neighborhood watch in another community many years ago, and it was much like the OP describes. Those were the days before listservs, though. I wonder if this HOA has a listserv and if so, what the emails say. If Trayvon's family were going to sue, they would want to subpoena those emails.

[niyad]

8. isn't there some question about whether he WAS block captain? he says he is, the hoa says. .

nothing.

[yardwork]

11. Some members of the HOA spoke in support of Zimmerman at first. They've gone quiet.

The HOA may be legally liable for Zimmerman's actions, since he was a volunteer and apparently they knew it. See this article:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/experts-warn-homeowners-associations-of-perils-of-using-volunteer-security/1221352

The killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watchman in Sanford should be a cautionary tale for homeowners associations, experts say.

The circumstances — a volunteer watchman carrying a gun, and questions over whether he did enough to avoid shooting the unarmed teenager — could put the homeowners association where the incident took place in legal hot water.

And in many cases like this one, the residents don't know they could be liable until a tragedy occurs, when they find out that their homeowners association only carries insurance for directors and board officers, not volunteers who patrol streets or maintain common areas.

"There are ripple effects on everybody in a community," said Donna DiMaggio Berger, a managing partner with the statewide law firm of Katzman Garfinkel & Berger, which represents more than 2,000 homeowners associations. If volunteers take matters into their own hands, "the association is going to get sued."


The article goes on to say that Trayvon's Martin has not sued the homeowner's association, but more legal and HOA management experts are quoted as saying that they may have grounds to do so, especially if the HOA board knew that he carried a weapon.

[Syrinx]

9. I'm curious...

Did the police chief ever encourage you to report what some would call "victimless" crimes. Like if you saw someone smoking pot in their backyard?

[trof]

10. No, not at all.

That never came up.
In fact, our job is not to 'spy' on each other.
It's just to have a heightened awareness of comings and goings/incidents in the neighborhood.

A few months ago someone shot a deer in the front yard of a neighbor down the street.
It was 10:30 p.m. and the shooter was in an older pickup truck.
This was both illegal AND dangerous on many levels.
The truck sped off after some came out of their houses to see what the commotion was about.
One alert guy got a good description of the truck and a partial license plate #.
The police got the guy a couple of hours later.
That's how it's supposed to work.