Manassas Crime Prevention Officer Scott Stallard has breathed new life into the city’s neighborhood watch program. Since he took the reins five years ago, the city has started five watch programs.
What role do you play in organizing neighborhood watch programs?
My role is to set up neighborhood watch programs in certain neighborhoods and then provide training. When I became the crime prevention officer, I started working with local newspapers to make people aware of what neighborhood watch is and what steps they could take to start one. It worked, and now we have five active groups.
Do you target specific neighborhoods?
There have been a couple of areas I have focused on that have certain types of crime such as vandalism, and breaking and entering. But for the most part, it’s the citizens who step forward and organize the groups.
Are there certain types of crime that a neighborhood watch program can more effectively fight than others?
Burglaries and certain types of vandalism, but it’s not likely to have an effect on assaults or murder. The idea is for the watchers to be eyes and ears of the police department. We don’t train them to do hands-on work. We do train them to recognize suspicious activity; the difference between three guys on a corner listening to a boombox and three guys staking out a house. By doing that, most of those types of crime — vandalism and burglary — will go down. It works.
How did you become interested in organizing neighborhood watch programs?
When I first moved into the community services division I was teaching DARE and I started researching the previous neighborhood watch programs that were in the 1990s. … There’s no doubt in my mind that prevention patrol, whether it’s a police officer on patrol or a neighborhood watch program, helps prevent crime. When people know they’re under surveillance, they’re less likely to commit a crime. That’s what I’m trying to get citizens to understand. We can nip crime before it happens.
What role does a watch program play in bringing a community together?
Northern Virginia is a diverse area, and people don’t really talk to their neighbors anymore like they used to. Neighborhood watch helps to open those doors. You have to talk to your neighbors and recruit.
