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| Updated: 9/13/2012 10:46 pm |
Published: 9/13/2012 10:43 pm |
JACKSONVILLE, AR - Homeowners in Jacksonville are banding together and forming a neighborhood watch program to keep crime out of their community.
They are already 8 watches in the city and now the homeowners in the Toneyville neighborhood are forming a new group. In fact, so many residents showed up for the first meeting Wednesday night that extra chairs had to be brought in to seat everyone.
Those in attendance feel the watch will keep criminals out of their neighborhood.
“It’s a good neighborhood and we want to keep it that way,” says Carol Saffle.
These neighbors asked the city of Jacksonville and the police department to help them develop a program to protect hemselves and keep their neighborhood safe.
"I think great neighborhoods make for great cities and anytime you have a neighborhood watch, people out there watching, they're helping police out," said Councilman Bill Howard.
The Toneyville neighborhood is growing, many older homes with new subdivisions popping up. That's why these homeowners say they need to get to know each other better.
"The area around us is growing so fast and we don't know who is coming in or what's happening," says Brigitte Sander.
Police say when neighborhoods form crime watches it helps reduce crime and catch criminals faster.
Jacksonville Police Chief Gary Sipes was in attendance. "Please watch out for your neighbors. Lets try to prevent some crimes, or get the bad guys caught, and maybe you won't become a victim."
