De Pere Police Department. PC: Fox 11 Online
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The city of De Pere is revamping its neighborhood watch crime prevention program.
It comes at a time when residents are becoming more engaged in their community once again.
Like many communities, De Pere has had a neighborhood watch program for years. But, as it added specific community police officers to its ranks, it revamped the watch.
The new program with new signs is called De Pere Aware.
“We want to continue to interact with those watch groups so that we can share information with them. They can share concerns that they may have about the community with us, so that we can best address those quality-of-life issues,” said Officer Charlie Leiterman.
Scott Crevier lives on the west side of De Pere. His neighborhood has adopted the new De Pere Aware initiative — and it has the sign to prove it.
According to Crevier, “Many people look at neighborhood watch programs and of course, De Pere Aware, as a way to be connected to the police department, but I tell you, with our neighborhood, I think the more powerful benefit we get is to just kind of have the structure behind staying in touch with each other.”
The change just so happened to come as Crevier and his neighbors started interacting with each other more often. Older residents are reconnecting and getting to know their new neighbors too.
“The very first day we moved in, we had an opportunity to meet a lot of our neighbors and build the relationship right away. That’s allowed us to feel a lot more safe within the neighborhood and continue to make sure that we raise families and build the neighborhood up so it’s keeps on going,” added De Pere resident Steven Wolf.
That sense of community, neighbor helping neighbor, watching out for each other and your property, can go a long way — with not only neighborly relationships, but also safety.
“One of the reasons why we like the community we live in is because we do care for each other and we are in touch with what’s going on, and that’s one of reasons why I think things are peaceful. Crime is low, that kind of thing,” said Crevier.
The city of De Pere says it has about 20 neighborhood watch groups, but can always add more. If your neighborhood doesn’t have one, police suggest talking with neighbors about trying to get one started.
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