Tips for Recognizing Suspicious Activity

    Program Coordinators should contact their local law enforcement agency to set up training sessions for your neighborhood watch program so that members may be better prepared to recognize suspicious activity and report it to the police.  It is important to remember that citizens should never attempt to confront, apprehend or detain suspicious people themselves, but should write down a description of the person or event and report it to the local police.  Here are some things for group members to look out for that may be a sign that a crime is being or has already been committed.   If you see one or more of these activities taking place, it does not automatically mean that a crime is occurring, but they should be reported to your local law enforcement agency.

•    Broken doors and windows as well as doors and windows that have been left open for an unusual amount of time, especially in a vacant house or business. 
•    Unusual noises such as screaming, explosions, gunshots and continuous dog barking.
•    A person exhibiting unusual mental or physical symptoms such as speaking incoherently, not knowing where they are at, unusually heavy sweating, or glassy, bloodshot eyes.
•    People forcing entry into an unoccupied home or business.
•    People going door to door in a residential area, especially if they approach the rear of residences or loiter near vacant buildings. 
•    People, who are not the owners peering into a parked car or a home’s windows. 
•    Unfamiliar people loitering around schools or in secluded areas.
•    Unfamiliar vehicles driving slowly through the community several times. 
•    A person being forced into a vehicle. 
•    A stranger running through private yards or alleyways.
•    An unusually heavy amount of traffic coming into a house at strange times of day.
•    Young children roaming the streets unsupervised.             
•    Strangers stopping to talk to children.

     When citizens see suspicious people or activities they should try to get as accurate a description as possible, taking notes of such things as a persons sex, race, approximate age, height and weight, hair color, whether there was facial hair, clothing and any distinguishing marks such as tattoos or scars or if the person spoke with an accent.  When a suspicious vehicle is noticed, citizens should try to take note of its make, model, approximate age and if possible a license plate number.  This information should then be relayed to the local law enforcement agency. 
    It is also a good idea for neighborhood watch groups to keep a log of suspicious activity that has been noticed by members.  Suspicious activity should be reported to the Block Captain, who can keep a block suspicious activity log, an then relay the information to the Program Coordinator who will keep a neighborhood wide suspicious activity log.  This allows the group to better keep track of problems in the community as well as clear up some suspicious activity that may really not be suspicious.