Crime Watch Toolkit Reaches Out to Spanish Speakers in Dallas
  Bilingual Crime Watch toolkit from Dallas, TX. Click to view the full size images. |
The Ferguson Road Initiative (FRI) in Dallas, TX, has developed a bilingual Crime Watch toolkit to meet the specific challenge of organizing Spanish-speaking neighborhoods in its 2-Points Weed and Seed site. The printed document is in English on one side, but when it is flipped over the exact same information is printed in Spanish. "One of the biggest problems we face in our area is having good Crime Watch information in Spanish, especially when attempting to penetrate and organize a neighborhood that is predominately Spanish speaking," said Kerry Goodwin, 2-Points Weed and Seed Site Coordinator.
Neighborhood Crime Watch groups have been very successful for FRI. By the time FRI's first Weed and Seed site—the original Ferguson Road Corridor Weed and Seed site—earned Graduated Status, the number of neighborhood Crime Watch groups in the community had grown from 4 to about 20. These groups contributed to the site's 61-percent reduction in violent crime and 26.5-percent reduction in overall crime since 1998.
The 2-Points community adjacent to the Ferguson Road Weed and Seed site had a crime rate 50 to 100 percent higher than the Weed and Seed site for the same period. So when FRI sought and received Official Recognition for the adjacent 2-Points neighborhood, Crime Watch groups were important components of its community policing strategy.
For the law enforcement community, the 2-Points community is often one of Dallas's most violent neighborhoods. FRI's original Letter of Intent demonstrated that in the category of violent crimes per 10,000 persons, FRI's 2-Points community had experienced 8.12 forcible rapes as compared to 2.88 nationally, 86.24 aggravated assaults compared to 28.58 nationally, 88.27 robberies compared to 12.91 nationally, and 70.51 drug arrests compared to 38.42 nationally. Of the more than 19,300 residents, 67 percent live in apartments, 32 percent live below the federal poverty line, and nearly 13 percent are unemployed. Also, a third of the population is Hispanic, with from 80 to 90 percent of 2-Points' schoolchildren speaking and living in households where Spanish is the predominant language, and where over 90 percent are on the Free Lunch program.
FRI developed a Crime Watch Toolkit to address these challenges. It is based on their experiences in their original site and designed to be a "how to" guide for starting, organizing, and maintaining a neighborhood Crime Watch. "We saw holes in our approach and realized we needed to develop some basic tools," said Goodwin. "I do a lot of public speaking [about the importance of forming Crime Watch groups] and found myself saying the same things over and over. With the toolkit, I can leave valuable 'how-to' information behind."
According to Goodwin, the main concerns when developing the toolkit were practicality and clarity. "It has nothing that's new and fancy," he admits. Rather, it is a collection of information and best practices gathered from past efforts and other sources. The first section of the toolkit, Crime Watch Basics, covers topics such as—
- How do I start a neighborhood Crime Watch group?
- What are the roles and responsibilities in a neighborhood Crime Watch group?
- How much time do I have to spend?
- How do I "sell" the ideal of a neighborhood Crime Watch to my neighbors?
The other sections of the toolkit include—
- The First Meeting (including a planning checklist, sample agenda, and sample invitation letters).
- Crime Watch in Action (including examples of suspicious behavior and advice on how to report it).
- How to Keep Your Crime Watch Active.
"It was a real group effort," said Goodwin. "A board member collected the material, one of our police officers did the Spanish translation, and a nonprofit foundation paid for the printing."
The toolkits are being distributed at community meetings and other events such as the neighborhood's recent National Night Out activities. To create interest, the site asks local students to get involved in transforming their community by putting fliers on every door in the neighborhood, inviting residents to a community meeting in a local church. "This is the next step after seeing enough bad things in their neighborhoods," said Goodwin. "People leave these meetings and are ready to take back their communities. The toolkit gives them community organizing assistance to get people moving."
Recognizing that other Weed and Seed sites might find the Crime Watch Toolkit valuable, FRI wants to share it with interested sites. "We are willing to give anyone an electronic copy of our publication. This would allow folks everywhere, if facing the same problem, a ready-made publication (template) that they can customize to their own community," concluded Goodwin.
For more information, please contact:
Kerry Goodwin
2-Points Weed and Seed Site Coordinator
214–324–5116
