In the past, when Derrick Greer tried to gauge interest in starting a neighborhood watch program in his Ringgold, Ga., community, he could get only a handful of responses.
But after a spike in car break-ins and robberies in a neighboring community last fall, Greer got an overwhelming response from his Homestead Estates neighbors to organize a group immediately.
“It’s … really about being a good neighbor,” said Greer, who now is the group’s block captain.
North Georgia authorities say they have seen an uptick in interest in starting neighborhood watch programs in the last year, and the interest could be related to an increase in property crime.
When Walker County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Terry Hambrick gets a call to start a new program, the neighborhood’s complaints normally revolve around mischievous teens and vandalism or burglaries, he said.