Hey! Where's My Neighborhood Watch Sign?

will meet with residents in the neighborhood around Urban Heights Covenant Church at 7605 Aurora Ave. tonight to discuss forming a neighborhood crime watch.

The 6:30 p.m. meeting at the was prompted by city workers taking down neighborhood watch signs in the area.

"You can drive all over the city and see neighborhood watch signs all over the place, but there are no actual groups any more," said Randy Peterson, Urbandale's community relations officer.

Jonathan Hoffman said he noticed that the Neighborhood Watch near his home on Ridgemont Drive was missing. He said he called police and said: "Ironically, I think someone stole our Neighborhood Watch sign."

"I grew up with a Neighborhood Watch on the northwest side of Cedar Rapids," said Hoffman. "It's kind of a comfort to see those signs for me. It was really odd when they took it down."

Peterson said when Police Chief Ross McCarty took over the department, he wanted to renew the program under a new title: Urbandale Crime Eye.

Since then, nine neighborhoods have formed Crime Eye groups.  The revamped program uses the tools of email and social media to spread information about problems or prevention. These tools were not as universal when the first neighborhood watch programs were formed 20 years ago.

Peterson said it's not hard for police to help organize a neighborhood when there is a problem to solve. The issue is keeping the group going when the problem goes away.

Each Crime Eye group is organized under one coordinator, who is the contact point for police. Under them are block captains and members in the group, Peterson said.

The issues vary by neighborhood, Peterson said, from concerns with door-to-door peddlers, to speeding on residential streets, to vandalism, thefts or burglaries.

Hoffman said he delivered 92 flyers about tonight's meeting to homes between 76th and 78th streets, from Aurora Avenue to Ridgemont Drive. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss forming a Crime Eye neighborhood group.

Hoffman said his area has had some bicycles stolen and residents have observed some dubious goings-on at a duplex. 

Last summer Peterson said police helped organize the residents living around Lions Park who were being intimidated by a group of young men hanging out in the park.

"Within two weeks we had that park all cleaned out," he said. "Once the neighborhood came together and took a stand, we ran them out."

Contact Peterson at rpeterson@urbandale.org to start a Crime Eye program in your neighborhood.