Staff
Sweet Home business owners have a new way to look out for each other – Business Watch.
It’s like Neighborhood Watch but without the meetings, said volunteer Gay Byers.
She and Gina Riley, Sweet Home community policing officer have made a list of all the businesses in town, she said. They started at AJ Auto Sales and ended at The Point.
“We found out some of them didn’t know their neighbors across from them,” Byers said. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is a good way to unite everybody.’”
Eighty percent of businesses they reached out to, signed up, Byers said. There are still some businesses on her list that have not responded, so she expects there may be more participants, she added.
Some business owners were concerned about the costs involved.
“It’s free,” she said. “It’s just watching out for each other.”
Once contact information is collected from business owners who want to participate, SHPD distributes a list of phone numbers so businesses near each other can share information.
Riley introduced the concept at a Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce Lunch-N-Learn in May.
Business Watch encourages free exchange of information and crime prevention techniques between law enforcement and businesses.
“It’s the best way to disseminate information quickly,” Riley said. “This is a new program. We’ve been doing Neighborhood Watch. It’s along the same line. It’s looking out for one another.”
Business owners and employees can be vital in helping law enforcement, she said. For example, video cameras on one business may help solve crimes at a nearby business.
The concept is built around “gridding,” with each area building a contact list with their neighboring businesses, Riley said.
The gridding is broken up into sections – Main Street A through Foster I, Byers said.
One of the benefits of having contact information for your neighbors is that some businesses stay open later than others, Byers said. Someone may “see something not looking good going on behind your building,” she said. “They can call you.”
Business Watch is sponsored by the National Sheriff’s Association.
In conjunction with the Business Watch, police officers will begin courtesy checks at businesses – checking doors and looking around locations. Though these kinds of checks are already done, officers will leave a notice of the courtesy check, noting the time, date and officer.
On the notice, the officer will note whether the business is secure or if the officer has concerns and requests a phone call.
Officers also will be available to check businesses for ways to improve security and decrease the likelihood of being targeted for crime, promoting “crime prevention through environmental design.”
The idea is to keep intruders easily observable, with features that maximize the visibility of people, parking areas and building entrances, including doors and windows that look out onto streets and parking lots with pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and streets, front porches and adequate lighting at night.
The designs can create and extend a “sphere of influence,” creating a sense of territorial control. Potential offenders perceive the control and are discouraged by features that define property lines and distinguish private spaces from public places using landscaping, pavement designs, gateway treatments and fences.
Because this is a new program, there have been a few glitches. Not all of the phone tree lists have been typed and distributed – the Long Street section is still in the works. Also, some of the numbers need to be corrected. To make changes or additions, contact Byers at (541) 401-8053.
“United we stand, divided we fall,” Byers said. “I like that saying. Standing together maybe we can fight some of this crime.”
– Staff Writer Sean C. Morgan contributed to this report.