IS THERE A WATCH GROUP IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
A success story That’s exactly how a small but active neighborhood watch group in Tortosa came to life. When Larry Juitt and his neighbor Ted Lynch started the group, their goal was simple. “We just wanted a place to report crime and post safety notes for our community,” Juitt said. Juitt had helped run a neighborhood watch back in Tacoma, Wash., so he knew the benefits of year-round safety awareness. For Lynch, the motivation was more social. “We were just tired of waving at people and not knowing their names,” Lynch said. The group began with just a few streets in the subdivision’s southeastern corner. A photo from that first meeting shows the two couples and one other neighbor in attendance. Two years and one Facebook page later, the group maintains a modest but steady presence. Despite not seeing much crime — watchers say their most notable case was a 2023 porch pirate with the stolen package being returned shortly after — the group remains active. When asked what it takes to run the group, Lynch shrugged. “It doesn’t take much.” Today, a neighborhood watch sign greets drivers at the entrance. A group of women walk the streets most mornings, waving to neighbors and keeping an eye out for anything unusual. The group’s Facebook page now has more than 100 members. Lynch said they plan to keep growing engagement by hosting another neighborhood meeting and throwing a block party in the coming months. “The goal now is to remind people we’re still around,” Lynch said. “If they have a problem, we can help them out. And if you’re a problem, then you’ll have to deal with the proper authorities.” Technology as a tool Technology has been a godsend for neighborhood watch groups. Gone are the days of peeking out the window like Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched. “Social media has really helped expand awareness,” DeVenezia said. “It might be less formal than face-to-face meetings, but it’s effective.” Platforms like Facebook, Nextdoor, Citizen and Ring have replaced phone chains with instant alerts and real-time communication. “If something happens, like graffiti, we hear about it in 15 or 20 minutes,” added Lynch, from the Tortosa group. “We’re not trying to
police the neighborhood — just stay aware and support each other.” Law enforcement’s take MPD does not monitor the results of neighborhood watch groups, nor does it keep a tally of how many exist in the city or where. But Goodman called them “an important part of community safety in cities like Maricopa.” “These groups are helpful because they serve as an extra set of eyes and ears in the community,” he said in a recent interview. “While police officers can’t be everywhere at once, an active and aware neighborhood can help spot issues early, report them quickly and sometimes prevent crime before it happens.” Beyond safety, Goodman said programs like these build trust between residents and police. “Every neighborhood that is organized and connected through a watch program adds another layer of safety, resilience and durability to our city,” he said.
Maricopa does not maintain a master list of operational neighborhood watch groups. Jim DeVenezia, the police department’s community support specialist, said the city and department may be “still too small” for that level of organization. “I know there are pockets in each of the developments, but it’s more informal,” he said. Most watch groups appear to focus on just a small section of their neighborhoods. For example, the Tortosa Southeast group covers only a handful of streets, while Rancho Mirage’s group sticks to the western side of the HOA. Neighborhoods with established watch groups are Province, Rancho El Dorado, Rancho Mirage, Senita, Sorrento and Tortosa.
While police officers can’t be everywhere at once, an active and aware neighborhood can help spot issues early, report them quickly and sometimes prevent crime before it happens.” MARK GOODMAN, MARICOPA POLICE CHIEF
Larry Juitt, Ted Lynch and their wives stage a neighborhood watch meeting in Tortosa.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH Interest in community vigilance has ebbed and flowed over the decades, but one of the earliest catalysts was the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York. Early news reports in The New York Times claimed dozens of neighbors ignored her cries for help as she was attacked and killed outside her apartment. While the story was later shown to be exaggerated, it forced Americans to think critically about when — and how — to step in if someone is in danger. As crime rates rose through the 1960s and into the 1970s, communities began looking for structured ways to keep their streets safe. In 1972, the National Sheriffs’ Association
old Trayvon Martin. The incident ignited a national conversation about racial profiling, vigilantism and the limits of citizen patrols. Research is mixed on whether neighborhood watch programs actually reduce crime. A scholarly 2008 review of 19 U.S. programs found that about half were linked to a 16% to 26% drop in crime, while the other half showed no measurable effect. Experts agree, however, that neighborhood watch works best when residents maintain regular contact with police and follow one simple rule: Observe and report. Today, the National Neighborhood Watch emphasizes the safest communities are those where people stay alert, communicate with one another and let law enforcement handle enforcement.
HELPFUL RESOURCES
NOT ALL NEIGHBORHOODS CREATED EQUAL When retired Seattle police officer Katie Graves moved to her hillside home in Thunderbird Farms five years ago, the last thing she expected was a string of thefts and break-ins across the neighborhood’s multi-acre ranching properties. “A year or two after moving here, we started having regular burglaries,” she said. “And me being a former cop — and others knowing that — I kind of got involved.” Trailer thefts became a pattern. “I’m like, ‘Well, we’ve
National Crime Prevention Council: NPCC.org
“Everybody wants something as long as they don’t have to put effort into it,” Graves said. “And I was like, ‘Dude, I can’t do this by myself.’” Eventually, her animal rescue work demanded more of her time, and she handed the group off to new administrators. But as the posts drifted from crime reports to unrelated chatter, she felt its focus slipped. “That muddied up the group’s contents, in my opinion,” she said. And unlike tight suburban clusters, her rural setting made outreach harder. “Neighborhoods are easier,” she said. “You can just walk around and leave flyers on doors. Out here, I have to drive if I want to talk to someone.”
National Neighborhood Watch: NNW.org
National Neighborhood Watch Institute: NNWI.org
launched the National Neighborhood Watch Program, now called National Neighborhood Watch. Its mission was simple: Residents act as the “eyes and ears” for police, observing suspicious activity and
Virtual Neighborhood Watch Guide
National Home Security Alliance
Katie Graves
reporting it without taking matters into their own hands.
Because the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office isn’t patrolling the area most of the time, she launched the Hidden Valley and Thunderbird Farms Crime Watch group on Facebook.
But looking out for your
neighbors hasn’t always been straightforward. In 2012, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., shot and killed 17-year-
Neighborhood Watch Starter Kit
obviously got a ring,’” Graves said. “That’s when I started the crime watch group.”
At first, interest was
high. But it faded.
InMaricopa.com | November 2025
November 2025 | InMaricopa.com
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