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.
So far the county has 37 watch groups, and Hambrick has four groups planned to start in August.
The programs have led to several arrests and also help make neighbors more aware of each other, said Catoosa County Sheriff's Office Detective Tim Deal. Deal has helped three neighborhood groups start up in the last couple of months.
"I've had a very positive response," he said.
Before a group can form, officials will meet with neighborhood residents several times and organize block captains. The goal is to have a captain for every 10 to 12 houses, officials said.
Once the group is formed, the leaders have a direct line to a sheriff's deputy. They can call to alert authorities about a trend in crime or vice versa.
To generate interest in his community, David Rhoades went door to door last summer talking to neighbors in the Fort Town Estates in Catoosa County.
Rhoades' desire for a group took off when several cars were broken into and teenagers were causing problems in a nearby neighborhood. But since the group formed in October, its members have seen a decrease in crime, and neighbors once stopped a robbery in progress, Rhoades said.
When a couple's house was broken into, another neighbor took pictures of the break-in and of the burglary van's license and called police, Rhoades said.
"I think it ... deters a lot of people," he said.