RENO -- If you’re going out of town for Spring Break soon, being part of a neighborhood watch program may come in handy.  Deputies encourage all communities to become involved in this program. It’s all about being the eyes and ears of the community. Our neighborhood watch groups consist of residents who team up to keep their streets safe.

 “We don’t want anybody to be in harm’s way, so they are the look out,” said Deputy Teresa Aquila. “They know what belongs in their neighborhood and with that and they see something that just is out of place. That’s when they contact us and we’ll take it from there.”

Deputy Teresa Aquila with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office says their neighborhood watch programs started 7 years ago with only two groups involved. And she says now there are more than 31 watch groups across Washoe County that help reduce crime right here in our community. Including Tiffany Ogle of South Reno. She is co-chairperson of her neighborhood watch and believes the security has increased in her community since her watch group began a few years ago.

“We’ve had some vandalism that we’ve been able to capture and turn in and have that removed,” said Ogle. “We’ve also taken care of some speeding issues.”

Deputy Aquila says that’s exactly what neighborhood watch groups are all about. In fact, these groups have helped the sheriffs in 18 different documented cases.

“It’s amazing what it can do in a community,” said Deputy Teresa Aquila. “Where you’ll see where crime was there and then you’ll see it decline once the people start becoming participants in neighborhood watch and they start calling in these suspicious activities.”

And there’s also another option if you’re planning on going out of town soon. You can contact the sheriff’s office and place a house watch on your home.  If you’re interested in setting up a neighborhood watch group, just contact Deputy Aquila to set up a meeting. For more information go to: http://www.washoesheriff.com/sub.php?page=neighborhood-watch-program