BILLINGS — There are already a couple of neighborhood watch groups in Billings but local law enforcement say they've been inundated with requests for more in different neighborhoods.
It's why the Billings Police Department gave a presentation on what it takes to form a neighborhood watch group to over a dozen community members at Grace United Methodist Church Wednesday night.
“It’s not a vigilante group," said Billings Police Sgt. Jeff Stovall as he began his presentation.
A neighborhood watch group may not be a vigilante group, but it's effective.
“Between 12 and 15% of our general population, is actually a part of a neighborhood watch group," Stovall said.
Midtown resident Marty Hein and her neighbors are a part of that statistic.
"We call ourselves the Glock Subdivision Neighborhood Watch Program," said Hein. "We are from 17th to 24th from Grand to the canal."
Hein and her neighbors started their neighborhood watch group 18 months ago and haven't looked back since.
"We've seen crime go down, and we've also seen the camaraderie and the support," Hein said.
Other neighborhoods across the city are requesting their own.
"It's been people from all over the city. Yeah, everywhere from the West End up into the Heights, it's been all over the city. So we figured instead of doing, you know, 25 of these, let's just bring them together and we'll unpack some stuff from there," said Stovall. "It's just a group of people that's really invested in their own neighborhoods, and they want to just make it a safer place."
The Glock Subdivision Neighborhood Watch group meets at Grace United Methodist Church every month.
"We have the area separated into blocks, and there are block captains that volunteer for each area. So that helps us feeding information," Hein added.
Success stories like theirs have given West End residents like Dennis Lucin the idea to start one after having problems in his own neighborhood.
"It got to a tipping point where the neighbors started saying, you know, enough is enough. We need to do something," said Lucin.
It's something he can pursue now that he's been equipped with the right information.
"Now we will move forward to get another meeting set up with just our neighbors. What do we want to do? How do we want to do it? I'll reiterate the information learned tonight and just to become a more effective watch group," Lucin said.
He's just one of many Billings residents hoping to make their communities a safer place.
"It's not just reporting crime. It's caring for your neighbor, watching each other's back. If you see something, say something," said Hein.
