By Jennifer Edwards
Enquirer staff writer

ANDERSON TWP. - Realtors doubling as crime spotters? Why not, they and area police say.

On any given day, as many as 200 real estate agents with cellular phones work in Anderson Township neighborhoods, so it makes good sense to combine that mobile force in a new partnership with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office for a crime watch program, they say.

Hamilton Co. Sheriff's Deputy Dave Boiman stands with Huff Realtor James M. Gibbons. (Enquirer photo/ERNEST COLEMAN)

"If it saves one child or stops one crime, it is a success," said Jim M. Gibbons, senior sales vice president of Huff Realty in Anderson Township.

Called Real Estate Watch, the pilot program might be among the first in the nation, according to the National Association of Realtors.

If successful in Anderson, the idea is likely to spread to other communities in Hamilton County covered by the sheriff's office and could catch on in other parts of Greater Cincinnati.

Real Estate Watch will work like this: Deputies contact a central person in each of seven real estate offices in Anderson via e-mail or telephone. That agent forwards that information, likely to include crime trends or specific alerts, to other agents in that office.

In addition, Realtors will keep their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. If they spot suspicious activity, they will immediately report it to the sheriff's office.

The idea emerged this year when the township saw a spike in child-enticement reports. Five have been reported so far this year, compared with one reported in 2003. No arrests have been made in the cases this year.

During the rash of child enticements and while working, Gibbons heard conflicting media reports on the description of a suspect's pickup truck.

What if Realtors could get fast, accurate alerts from the sheriff's office, he wondered.

"It was frustrating," Gibbons, 40, father of two, said. "Who is driving around the most? Realtors and the sheriff's office. We are the ones out and about, and I thought, if I had a clear description, I could perhaps help out."

A similar program called "Realty Watch" exists in Vancouver, Canada, and surrounding areas. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board formed it about eight years ago, after a real estate agent was slain in 1985 while showing a house.

That program was such a success that a larger one is being formed with the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver to include the entire region, said Eileen Day, manager of communications for both boards.

That program involves thousands of real estate agents who are constantly connected through cellular telephones and pagers with police agencies. If a child or senior citizen goes missing, real estate agents are alerted and are on the lookout almost instantly.

"We have had numerous instances where Realtors have seen somebody that looked like they may have been breaking into a house or stealing a car and called the police," Day said.

Hamilton County sheriff's officials say they hope to have their program running by the end of September. Deputies will visit seven participating real estate offices soon to discuss details of how the project will work.

Crime overall is relatively low in Anderson Township. Neighbors and deputies say they want to keep it that way.

Real Estate Watch "adds an extra bit of firepower" to community policing efforts already in place in Anderson, said Deputy Dave Boiman, who helped form the program with Gibbons.

The township already has neighborhood block watches and business watches, so Realtors will be added to the e-mail list that puts out crime alerts, wanted posters, crime-prevention tips and other crime-fighting tidbits, Boiman said.

"One of the nice things about this program is there is no cost," Gibbons noted. "Once you have the e-mail list set up, it's a keystroke for somebody at the sheriff's office."

At least one Realtor elsewhere in the nation has heard about the program and plans to try to start one up in his region.

"I thought, hmm, I've got to take this home," said Joe Carson of Casper, Wyo., who used to live in Anderson Township.

Anderson residents said they welcome the extra attention, especially in light of child-enticement reports increasing earlier this year, setting some parents on edge.

"It's scary when you hear things like that because you do think of Anderson as a safe area," said Sarah Ackel, 27, who answered the front door to her home as she fed a bottle to her 4-month-old son.

"The more people we have looking out for children and our homes, the better."

Warren County Sheriff Tom Ariss said he planned to discuss the idea with Realtors in his fast-growing county.

"What more can you ask for? Friendly sets of people out there looking and bringing back what they see," the sheriff said. "The more people looking, the better it's going to be."

Several police agencies in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati already use a Web site called citizenobserver.com to distribute crime alerts to businesses and residents, including real estate offices, said Lt. Tim Chesser of the Florence Police Department.

"If you have a crime in progress or a recently committed crime, the sooner we get information out, the better in order to catch the person," he said. "If criminals know they stand a great chance at getting caught, they may avoid a certain area."

---

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com