Avenues Connecting Together (ACT)

ACT covers San Benito Ave. to 10th Ave. and includes Encina, Placitas and Oak Drive. The contact for ACT is Leslie Walker Kittock who can be reached at nwsb210@gmail.com. 

Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N)

N2N covers the area of Fair Oaks Avenue and 14th to 18th Avenues. The contact for N2N is Kathi Peregrin who can be reached at n2ngroup1@gmail.com. 

Our Neighborhood Network (ONN)

ONN covers the area from 6th Avenue to 9th Avenue, between Edison and Middlefield Road. The contact for ONN is Melinda Dubroff and she can be reached at meldubroff@prodigy.net

What are Neighborhood Watch Associations?

Neighborhood Watches are community-based voluntary groups of residents in a particular neighborhood or area that organize to work on issues such as safety. Neighborhood Watch groups are not to be confused with homeowners associations (HOAs) which are organized to manage their own privately-owned developments.

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office supports the development of Neighborhood Watch groups.  Residents who are interested in forming a group, from just a few houses to the many blocks should contact Deputy Javier Acosta at JEAcosta@smcgov.org

I. HOW TO START A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM ON YOUR BLOCK:

A volunteer from your block must be selected to represent your block as the NW Block Captain. The prospective Captain must contact NW Program Coordinator (Community Policing Unit at 650-257-3403) to receive a NW start up packet.

It is the responsibility of the prospective Neighborhood Watch Captain to read all handout material in the packet and to understand the concept of the NW program.  After reading all of the hand out material follows the steps below.

First, re-contact NW Program coordinator to reserve a meeting date for your block.  Meeting dates are by appointment only Monday - Thursday evenings. The meetings normally last (approximately) an hour, from 7 to 8:00pm. The Captain is responsible for arranging a meeting place prior to reserving a meeting date. Suggestions for meeting locations are: NW Captain’s residence, another residence on your block, a nearby church, or school.

SECOND, after a meeting date has been reserved with the NW Program coordinator, the “Neighborhood Watch Informational Meeting” flyers are to be filled out by the NW Captain and distributed to all residents on your block or area.  Flyers can be obtained from NW coordinator. 

THIRD, the “Neighborhood Watch Informational Meeting” flyers should be distributed to all residents on your block to canvass your block for interest in the program. Personal visits/contact is recommended so that you can explain what the program is about.  It is generally recommended that a Captain maintain an area the size of one block.  For the initial meeting we encourage Block Captains to contact residents from surrounding blocks.  After the meeting the NW program coordinator can assist the Block Captain in breaking surrounding blocks into separate groups. 

FOURTH, The NW Program coordinator will attend your meeting for the Neighborhood Watch presentation.  Any questions your neighborhood may have about current crime concerns should be presented to NW program coordinator prior to the meeting.  Participants will be instructed on how the NW programs assists residents in reducing crime on your block in a working partnership with the Sheriff’s Office.

II. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH CAPTAIN AT THE MEETING:

1. Supply nametags for all residents.

2. Distribute handout material from the meeting to residents who were unable to attend.

3. Develop and distribute NW Area Map.

This map is confidential and only the residents on the block will be supplied with a copy. This map is used to help members give adequate information when reporting suspicious activity in your neighborhood. A map of your block should be developed to:

  1. Clearly identify homes and cross streets on your block.
  2. Show the name, address and phone number of each home. It is recommended that both the home and business phone number be included.

It is important that this map be kept updated and reflects all changes in residents, phone numbers, etc.

III. RESPONSIBILITIES OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH CAPTAIN AFTER THE ORGANIZATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH BLOCK:

After your NW Block is implemented, it is important to keep your group active in maintaining people’s interest. Communicating and cooperating with your neighbors and the Sheriff’s Office is key.

The following activities and responsibilities are designed to complement your NW program:

  1. Arrange for secondary meetings. Topics and speakers could include:
    1. Identity Theft (conducted by the Sheriff’s Office – call 650-257-3403 Ext. 4)
    2. Drug and Gang Awareness for Parents (conducted by the Sheriff’s Office call 650-257-3403 Ext. 4)
    3. Code Enforcement (conducted by Code Enforcement – call 650-363-4825)
    4. Fire Prevention (conducted by the Fire Department - call 650-573-3842)
    5. Disaster Preparedness (conducted by the Fire Department - call 650-573-3842)
  2. Update your Area map to include any new residents who move into your block.
  3. You are responsible for distributing all information and NW bulletins that have been provided to you by the Sheriff’s Office to the residents on your block.
  4. Report to the NW Program coordinator any damaged or stolen signs for replacement.

    NOTE: If a sign is stolen, you must make a police crime report of petty theft. Call 650-363-4911. You will be given a police report number. After receiving a police report number, notify the NW Program coordinator for a replacement sign. It is important to make a police report on the theft of your NW sign(s) to enable the police department to file criminal charges of petty theft or possession of stolen property against the suspect(s)
  5. If you move from the area or can no longer be the Captain, it is important to solicit a neighbor on your block to assume the responsibilities of NW Captain and report this information to the NW Program coordinator.  In order to share the workload and responsibilities, the NW Captain position may be rotated to another resident on you block. It is important to notify the NW Program coordinator of any changes in Captains for mailing purposes.