Neighborhood Watch Program grows under Salinas Police Department

The idea of community policing is gaining ground under Salinas Police Chief Adele Frese. SPD has just teamed up with the City’s Library and Community Services Department in a push to get neighborhoods around Salinas to join the Neigh borhood Watch Program.

“The tighter the neighborhood is, the more they get to know each other and the safer the neighborhood is,” said SPD Sergeant Gray.

The two groups are going around to existing watch groups answering any questions they have and referring them to resources so they can solve problems in their own neighborhoods. There are more than a dozen active groups in the city, and SPD Sergeant Kendall Gray says they anticipate that number to grow quickly with this new partnership.

“It’s pretty exciting right now. We’re seeing neighborhoods wanting to come closer together. That’s one of the biggest things in crime prevention is getting the neighborhood close with their neighbors, but also connected with the police department,” said SPD Sergeant Kendall Grey.

“We’re really trying to strengthen our neighborhood watch groups that are already established and of course start new ones,” said Salinas Neighborhood Service Coordinator, Ana Ambriz.

The Neighborhood Watch Program in Salinas was non-existent for a couple years because of staffing and budget constraints, however SPD brought it back in 2016. The new partnership between police and Library Community Services is expected to really pick that number up.

Coming up in the next half hour we will hear how the program falls into SPD’s strategy for community policing and what else they’re doing.

If you would like to get a Neighborhood Watch Group going in your neighborhood, then contact Neighborhood Coordinator, Ana Ambriz or SGT. Kendall Gray