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Municipal council to revive Neighborhood Watch
The Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council intends to revive its Neighborhood Watch Program, according to chair Antonia Tudela.
“This needs to be pushed further in and we are planning to do outreach by going into the villages and doing our outreach there. We need to protect ourselves, it is already getting worse,” she said.
Tudela said that Glenn Dikito, chairman of the Neighborhood Watch Program, and the council would be meeting soon to plan their next steps.
Dikito became chairman last August after former Municipal Council chair Ramon B. Camacho appointed him and initiated the program by presenting at various PTA meetings in public schools across the island.
“This time we need to take it seriously. It takes an entire village, the Legislature, and everybody else to be involved for the program to be successful,” Tudela said.
The Neighborhood Watch Program unites community members within a village in protecting their homes, families, and neighbors by being the “eyes” of the village and looking out for potential criminal activities such as burglaries.
Burglary incidents have continued to plague the islands’ villages and there is a perception that the Neighborhood Watch Task Force has not been getting the cooperation of many residents.
Tudela believes this can be countered by actually bringing the campaign to the grassroots level.
