Neighborhood Watch

Everyone works hard to have a place called home. It should not be taken away by unwanted disturbances due to the next door neighbor foreclosing their home. Unfortunately, Slavic Village, Cleveland had their fare share of disturbance. Jim Rokakis, a Cuyohoga County Treasurer felt that after 800 homes have been foreclosed, crime seem to have increased. It seems to be that squatters and looters started to move into the empty homes. Mark Wiseman, the director of Cuyohogan County Foreclosure Prevention Program, said that “It takes about 72 hours for a house to be looted after it is vacant.” They would then trash the vacant home, leaving the yard covered in garbage.

Homes being foreclosed attract gang members. Joe Krasucki, 78, died the next day after being badly beaten; he was outside noticing gang members stripping aluminum sidings, making the homes nearly worthless. They take doors, moldings and appliances, pulling the piping out with a sledge hammer. Putting the homes back together takes a lot of money and effort which is not worth it for buyers to purchase, leaving homes vacant for more crimes to occur. This is especially hard on low income family’s that work hard to earn a safe secure place for their family by moving out of the ghetto and into the suburbs. Not only do they now have to stress on mortgage, but also worry about their children in what they thought was a safe environment.

Sheriff Ted Mink ran into the same problem. He had a problem with foreclosed homes being left unattended for months. His community crime rate has also rised. Homes that are left for no one to watch are asking for unwanted people into the community. There has been reported incidents where homeless person or runaways use the empty homes as shelter. There are also times when they attempt to rig wiring to get power to the house. This is dangerous because the house could easily catch on fire. But worst, Sheriff Mink received a reports about meth labs, and vandalism in the vacant foreclosed homes.

Unlike unwanted communities, having a neighborhood watch, communtiy know who exactly their neighbor. That means some communtiy enforces background checks, according to Sheriff Mink. Background checks are not overly invading privacy; they just ask simple questions of employment and who lives in the household.

Ms. Daniel, a banker in Desoto and residents say that “the neighborhood suffers from increased in burglaries, decline in community spirit and unity.” This is all due to foreclosures. The community notices that if something is not glued down, squatters and looters are taking it.There’s been reported incident of burglaries breaking into house and stealing appliances such as furnaces and air conditioners out of yards to resale and make money for themselves. Whether they’re buying drugs or alcohol, it is very difficult to have a safe neighborhood without the community pitching in to catch these unwanted disturbances.

Market to sale homes are difficult as it is. By having a neighborhood watch, neighbors can pitch in, watch the empty homes and helpout by cutting grass or planting flowers just to make homes more inviting. Helping foreclosed homes sell quickly would not only benefit the real-estate agent but also the home value.

One of the most effective and least costly ways to prevent crime and reduce fear is by starting a neighborhood watch program. It can reduce burglaries,robberies, crime, and strangers. With this program in place members not only learn how to secure their homes but watch out for each others property by reporting activities that raise their suspicions to the police and sheriffs.

A lot of times people are discouraged by starting a neighborhood watch because they feel as if their being watched constantly. There’s no privacy; all there is with this program is giving the permission for noisy neighbors to watch their every moves. Which is not true. I personally was help by my neighbors who gave me a description of a man wondering around in his car looking very suspicious. It turned out that this man was keeping a little notebook spotted by my neighbors on which house has what car, where the car is usually park and time of day car is at home. That helped me to keep a close eye on man description and my car. Police arrest the man thanks to my neighbors.Neighborhood watch programs are for incidents to be reported immediately. There are not enough police and sheriff to patrol all corners of the street. This is when neighborhood watch program comes in handy.

Les, Christie. "Crime Scene: Foreclosure." CNNMoney.Com. 19 Nov. 2007. 7 July 2008 http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/16/real_estate/suprime_and_crime/.

Mink, Ted. "Foreclosed HOmes and Their Impact on Neighborhood." Apr. 2008. 7 July 2007 .

Appleton, Roy, and Jake Batsell. "DeSoto Neighborhood Hit Hard by Foreclosures." 29 Feb. 2008. The Dallas Morning News. 9 July 2008 .

Gridley, Clinton P. "Foreclosed Properties." 5 Mar. 2008. 5 July 2008 .

Mantell, Ruth. "Safeguarding Your Home's Value as Foreclosures Flood the Market." 8 May 2007. 8 July 2008 .