The Orange County Sheriff’s Office
Orange Sheriff’s Office promotes prevention campaign
will be doing something new this week to bolster neighborly relations across the county with its upcoming “Be a Good Neighbor” campaign.
Nosy neighbors are good neighbors.
That is, according to Orange County Sheriff ’s Office Lt. Jim Deleu.
“People are more apt to call police if they see a suspicious person if they know their neighbors,” he said.
That’s why the Sheriff ’s Office will be doing something new this week to bolster neighborly relations across the county with its upcoming “Be a Good Neighbor” campaign.
“The primary sign of decay in a neighborhood is when neighbors stop talking,” Deleu said. “Working together, you can get the criminals off your block and out of your area.”
The campaign will kick off Tuesday with National Night Out, a program started in 1984 to connect neighbors and law enforcement. Seventeen neighborhoods and home owners’ associations across Orange County are registered to hold National Night Out block parties Tuesday, and another National Night Out will be held in October, Deleu said.
Deputies will present safety tips to residents at each block party and pass out Be a Good Neighbor magnets for residents to collect their neighbors’ contact information to encourage communication. Those not planning to attend a National Night Out party can pick up a magnet from the Sheriff’s Office headquarters at 2500 W. Colonial Drive.
“We want this to be the genesis of long-term relationships,” Deleu said.
But unlike previous years, the work to encourage residential relationships won’t stop when the last block party ends. The Be a Good Neighbor campaign will continue the mission of strengthening neighbor relationships throughout the week, with officers engaging with residents over social media and giving neighborhood safety presentations until Friday.
“National Night Out is typically a one-night occurrence,” Deleu said. “We wanted this to be a week-long operation.”
Too often, when officers investigating crimes knock on doors looking for tips, deputies find that neighbors don’t know each other, Orange County