Dave Evans is the director for what is likely the region’s most extensive neighborhood watch program. A resident of Tanglewood in Silver Spring, Evans helped plant the seeds of the daily patrols conducted by residents in marked cars in 1993. He and others in the community spend several hours a week organizing and patrolling the streets.
How did you get involved in neighborhood watch?
About 15 years ago crime started to rise in our neighborhood. We were losing cars on an average of one every 11 days. We’re located off Route 29 and near I-95 so it’s easy for thieves to come in and do what they need to do. In reaction, we organized a meeting, about 150 people showed up, and we decided to run with a neighborhood watch. … We started patrolling the streets in cars marked as neighborhood watch from Day One. … Now, we maybe lose one or two cars a year.
What have you run across in all those years?
The [Drug Enforcement Agency] once contacted us and has a look out for a car in a particular driveway. We actually saw it and reported it, but nothing ever seemed to come of it. Just last Sunday we had an exciting evening. Three kids were seen lighting a dead tree on fire. I got the call and went out. I ended up chasing the kids, and when the police arrived they were able to arrest one of them. Then, while the police were still there, a truck flew by with its lights out. When the police stopped the man, they found he was drunk, couldn’t speak English and had no driver’s license.
It sounds like the watch has been successful.
We’re better off now than we were 15 years ago, even as crime has gone up around us. Criminals figure, ‘Why go into a neighborhood where people are patrolling when I could just go into the next one?’ … I’ve heard of people buying houses in Tanglewood because they’ve heard of our program.
