Monday, March 01, 1999
Woodlawn recruits residents for crime watch
BY MARIE McCAIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WOODLAWN — Law enforcement professionals, such as Woodlawn Police Officer Jim Ohl, know that crime prevention can't succeed without citizen participation.
That's why, with the support of his co-workers and commanders, Officer Ohl is attempting to start this small community's first neighborhood watch.
It will be based in Woodview, a relatively new subdivision with about 70 single-family middle-income houses.
At a meeting last month, a handful of residents turned out, but more need to participate to make the initiative work, Officer Ohl said.
Residents Harry and Paula Taylor intend to join. They know the benefits firsthand; Mr. Taylor helped start a neighborhood watch 15 years ago in Cincinnati's Mount Washington.
“There were some break-ins and people started talking about hiring private guards, but we just got together and decided to do this ourselves,” he said.
“We had a policeman that lived across the street ... and he got another officer to come to one of our meetings. That officer gave us information about ways to report something that needed looking into without giving a name.
“We put up signs that there was a crime watch ... and we had occasional meetings. After that, I don't think we had any break-ins.”
Beside crime-stopping, Mrs. Taylor said, a crime watch group “brings neighbors closer together because you've a vested interest in your neighbor's well-being and they in yours.”
Mrs. Taylor said she already is grateful to a neighbor who tracked down a thief who took her bicycle.
“What an angel. ... I consider this person and her family even better and more reliable neighbors and wouldn't hesitate to do something for them as wonderful as what was done for me,” she said.
Officer Ohl said watch groups could be formed in other neighborhoods and the village business district.
“We need extra eyes and ears to help us,” he said, adding that a crime watch group is one way the police department is hoping to involve Woodlawn residents.
Another is a Citizens Police Academy class to start April 12, showing residents how their police department operates. Participants attend 10 weekly sessions on aspects of law enforcement.
For information, call Woodlawn Police Department, 771-8480.
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