Get Involved in your Neighborhood! (Part 2)

We see it all the time on social media – citizens lamenting about the actions or inactions of law enforcement: “I called the cops and no one showed up” or “why do the cops just let these guys go?!”.

I have always been a firm believer in the thought that you don’t get to complain about something if you aren’t willing to do something about it yourself. And while there are few people in this world with the mental or physical fortitude to become police officers, there are other ways we can all get involved in our communities.

You’d be surprised how many neighborhood watch groups exist in Las Cruces, bolstered by a Las Cruces Police Department Community Outreach Team that supports such neighborhood organizations and their purpose to bring communities together, while recognizing that each neighborhood is unique. But there was still something missing – the groups were formed and functional, but they still existed as islands within the city, not knowing about or collaborating with other similar organizations in other neighborhoods.

But all that changed last year. Two neighborhood watch captains, spurned to action by the tragedies, violence and property crimes exploding in our city, decided to organize the organizers. As such, the captains have quarterly meetings to educate, inform and share ideas about how to make the city safer and learn strategies to empower their neighbors, all while working directly with LCPD to stay informed. One officer in particular has gone above and beyond to help, as the community liaison officer, working directly with neighborhood watches all over the city. Officer Charli Velasco seeks to empower neighborhood watch groups in a collaborative, proactive and informative manner that celebrates the “culture” of each individual neighborhood. Velasco provides constructive suggestions about locations to install cameras, fencing or signage and even coordinates official neighborhood watch signage, paid for, installed and maintained by the city. He offers a plethora of informative presentations on crime statistics specific to each area, what to expect when 911 is called and fraud prevention and education.

The police are doing their best. But with staffing issues and an increase in crime across the city, they have to triage their responses. But Velasco relayed to me that it is hugely beneficial for responding officers to already have contacts in the neighborhood, through a neighborhood watch group. And the neighbors, in turn, report a highly responsive source of information because they can reach out to Velasco as a direct liaison to the police department to ask questions or follow-up on an event that transpired in the neighborhood.

So the next time that something happens in your neighborhood, and you pick up your phone to post the cliched “does anyone know what happened….” on one of the Facebook groups, ask yourself instead if you can start an intelligent conversation about what happened with your neighbors and a dedicated police officer, and, better yet, arm yourself with information so that it either doesn’t happen again, or you have an established communication mechanism for how to deal with it in a proactive approach.

I’d like to thank Officer Velasco for his service to our community. If you are interested in starting your own neighborhood watch group, you can email him at cvelasco@lascruces.gov or give him a call at 575-528-4408. 

Shawna Pfeiffer is a life-long Doña Ana County Resident, graduate of NMSU, small business owner, hobby farmer, dog-lover, outdoor enthusiast and mother to two young children. She can be reached at srpfeiffer1@gmail.com.