The primary function is to set up communication between neighbours and serve as the link between Block Watch participants and the Block Watch office. The Block Watch Captain or Co-Captain is not responsible to keep crime off the block, to patrol the area or be responsible for everyone's house keys when they are on vacation.

Serving as a Captain is not time consuming and you do not have to be home at all times to volunteer. Captain and Co-Captain don't have to perform all their duties alone.

Ask others on the block to help out when necessary.

Before becoming a Captain or Co-Captain you must undergo a security clearance. You must also meet with the Block Watch coordinators. They will provide you with the policies and procedures.

Please find someone on your block that would like to take over the position. Once you have, please contact our Program Coordinator Jeff Palmer with the updated information: new contact name, number, address, and email address.

• General home security tips

• Tips to prevent theft from or of motor vehicles, RV’s, etc.

• Personal Safety tips

• Block Watch window stickers

• Block Watch street signs

• Newsletters to keep you informed of current crime trends, home security, Block Watch events, and much, much more!

• How to properly recognize and report crime and suspicious activity to the police

• In most incidents, a general reduction in crime

• Continued Police partnership

• A greater sense of safety among residents

• A coordinator and / or police officer to attend your first meeting

• Some insurance companies will give a discount on home insurance

Contact West Vancouver Police to see if there is a Block Watch in your area. If your street does not have an active Block Watch, someone must volunteer to become the Block Captain and enlist the help of Co-Captain(s). All Captains and Co-Captains must be approved by the police. This merely involves the completion of an application form.

• Complete an application form

• Attend training/information session provided by your local police/block watch office.

• Canvass neighbors to explain the program and encourage participation

• Maintain an accurate list and map of all participants and provide an updated copy to your local police/block watch office annually.

• Ensure that yearly neighborhood meetings are held.

• Act as a liaison between the police department and block watch participants by providing important crime information to participants when required

• Set a good example by initiating home security and target hardening measure in his/her own home.

• Distribute the Block Watch Newsletter.

• Welcome new residents by explaining the Block Watch Program and encouraging participation.

• Organize regular meetings that focus on current issues i.e. grow ops, youth and alcohol, theft from autos etc.

• Adopt a park, playground or street. Pick up litter, paint over graffiti etc

• Don’t forget social events that give neighbors a chance to know each other: A block party, potluck dinner, volley ball or soft ball game, picnic, food drive for the food bank etc.

• Watch out for their neighbour and their neighbour’s property

• Notify police of any suspicious activity or crime in progress

• Report if they have been a victim of crime

• Notify their Block Captain if they have been a victim of a break and enter or other criminal/suspicious activity

• Update security and hardware in their homes

• Mark all valuables with their driver’s license number

• After participants have marked & catalogued their property they will be given Block Watch Decals by the Captain

• Attend yearly Block Watch meetings in their neighborhood

• Someone screaming or shouting for help

• Sounds of breaking glass or shattering wood

• Unusual noises

• Beam from flashlight or light in neighbor’s home

• Persons going door to door

• Someone looking into windows of parked cars

• Persons waiting in front of a home or loitering around the neighborhood

• A stranger in the back yard

• Property being taken out of houses where no one is at home or a business after it has closed

• Property being carried by persons on foot

• Property being loaded into a vehicle or being removed from a vehicle

• An opened or forced door or window

• Strange vehicles parked at your neighbor’s house

• Slow moving vehicles cruising the block

• Someone being forced into a vehicle

• A stranger sitting in a car or stopping to talk to a child

• Abandoned cars

Of course! The building is treated like a block. There is a Captain and Co-Captain and they fan out information to the people that would like to be part of Block Watch.