Residents form neighborhood watch program

A neighborhood watch meeting was held for citizens of Ward 3 on July 22 at Grace Community Church, located at 1980 W. 20th St., to discuss becoming a unified voice.

Residents are working to build a neighborhood watch program that will help their community become safer.

Block Captains Gwen Jackson and Rev. Ernest Battle and Lt. Dan Reinhardt hosted the meeting. Councilwoman-At-Large Mary Springowski and 1st Ward neighborhood watch resident J.R. Lee also were in attendance.

During the meeting, Reinhardt communicated to community members how police are trying to protect and serve everyone in the community.

“Our department, not trying to make excuses, but we only have so many people and so much time to address so many issues,” he said. “We have so many people calling all the time.”

Reinhardt said the department has to prioritize what calls to attend to.

“We would not ignore any call, but we have to organize what issues comes first based on the severity of the crime,” Reinhardt said.

The block watch will enable residents to handle minor situations faster, and allow police to address major situations.

It also will keep crime down if criminals know that neighbors are watching out for other neighbors, he said.

“It hardens the target and makes you safer,” Reinhardt said. “People who want to victimize you, are less likely to do it. Of course you can’t guarantee it, but it can minimize it.”

Springowski gave credit to the Lorain Police Department for all its hard work, even when people don’t realize all police officers do.

“Those guys are awesome. The police department really has some great guys on the force,” she said.

Lee came to support the ward’s program, but he also gave advice to residents.

“We have meetings once a month, and we bring all the captains together as one, that’s something you all should be doing too. When you have more people working together, you get better results,” Lee said.

Jackson said residents need to be aware and take precautions to help the community.