National Neighborhood Watch Website
Neighborhood Watch is an extension of what we all do: looking out for our neighbors and helping out when we see a need. Our patrol presence is a deterrent to potential criminal behavior and support for our community’s safety, as we look for unusual situations, suspicious activity, vandalism, street lights out, or other safety concerns.
Here are our current Rutherford Civic Association Neighborhood Watch Walking Program Manual guidelines:
2. Take your cell phone. You can keep the cell phone in one of the vest pockets or where it’s most handy for you.
3. Look for hazards. Look for unusual situations, suspicious activity, vandalism, street lights out, or other safety concerns.
4. Report emergencies to 911. Report situations as appropriate to 911 or the Fairfax Police Non-Emergency number (703-691-2131).
5. Report streetlight outages or downed powerlines to Dominion Power at 1–866-366-4357. The numbers that you will find on the streetlight poles are a bit irregular and inconsistent. Just report all the numbers you see, along with the nearest house address (ie “to the right of 4316 Argonne….”
6. Report, do not confront – use common sense at all times. Remember, your presence wearing the Rutherford Neighborhood Watch vest is the deterrent, not your personal actions. Never confront or follow a suspicious person; call the appropriate police number instead. Also, do not assume that a stranger or oddly-behaving person is an unwelcome outsider; just observe and report. It is very important that Neighborhood Watch not be perceived as doing any age/race/class/etc profiling, but we also want to observe the common sense advice of “See Something, Say Something.”
7. Leave all weapons at home – If you usually carry a handgun on a walk, please leave it at home when you are on Neighborhood Watch walks. It is against Neighborhood Watch policy to have any weapon with you during a Neighborhood Watch patrol.
8. Take the kids – Children or youths are welcome to participate with you on a walk, but you must be 21 years or older to wear the Rutherford Neighborhood Watch vest.
