Plano seeks renewed interest in Neighborhood Crime Watch

The Plano Police Department is trying to renew interest in an important community program to help fight crime.

Participation in the city’s Neighborhood Crime Watch has waned since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sgt. James Babb of the Plano Police Department’s Crime Prevention Unit.

“We don’t have the outreach we once had,” said Babb. “Outreach and communication are key to our partnership with the community.”

The crime prevention unit works on outreach, conducts home and business security surveys and educates the public on ways to avoid becoming a victim.

“We’re one of the safest cities in America and we cannot do that without our community,” he said.

Plano police will host a community meeting Thursday evening hoping to spark new interest in Neighborhood Watch Crime groups.

Registered, active crime watch groups in Plano have fallen from approximately 200 before the pandemic to about 70 recently.

“Crime watch groups are a great way for neighbors to get to know one another,” said Babb. “We have a point of contact when we need to look for a suspect [for example], if we need to let them know about crime trends and they’re also a good group to present to on safety topics.”

The program specifically needs coordinators who would meet with police twice a year, garner support among neighbors and organize National Night Out in October.

Babb spoke with in an East Plano neighborhood off P Avenue which has been without a coordinator since 2023.

“She was one of our volunteers, very sweet lady,” he said. “We have not found someone to take her place.”

The position, he says, would allow neighborhood police officers a point of contact for any public safety issues that arise and ensure residents’ needs are being met.

Francis Largaespada lives in the neighborhood and did not know the crime watch group had been inactive.

“It’s important because that way, all the community takes care of each other,” she said. “Sometimes you don’t know who is beside you, behind you, in front of you and it’s good to know to take care of the community.”

The Plano Police Department has even resorted to ‘cold calling’ people who have filed police reports in the past to gauge their interest in leading the crime watch.

Denisa Moore has lived in the area for 20 years.

“I knew that we had a neighborhood watch at one point,” she said.

Times have simply changed, she said.

Gone are the days of block parties and kids growing up together.

There’s been a lot of turnover in the neighborhood, she said, especially during the pandemic.

“We have a lot of people who don’t know what ‘Neighborhood Watch’ is and they figure they look out for family and friends in the neighborhood, and they don’t need a whole lot of others,” she said.

Babb hopes he can change sentiments and get people more engaged, including in the more Hispanic-centric neighborhoods of East Plano.

He encourages Spanish-only speakers to come forward and seek advice on starting a group in Spanish.

“Our biggest goal is to make sure that this is a safe city, for everyone whether you speak English or not,” said Babb. “We want you to feel welcome and feel safe.”

Walking around the neighborhood which sustained an ongoing power outage and damage in the week’s storms, Babb said there’s another perk to building community.

“If you had an existing crime watch group, you could leverage that to maybe get a [reputable] roofer to come out and say: Hey, I have 20 roofs in my neighborhood that need to be [inspected,]” he said. “I know if I was a roofing company I would make that neighborhood a priority.”

The Plano Police Department’s Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting will take place Thursday, May 30, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Davis Library at 7501-B Independence Parkway.

The public can contact the Plano Police Department’s Crime Prevention Unit at 972-941-2431.

A QT code is available for those interested in joining the department’s email list.