The Ansonia Block Watch in the city’s Fourth Ward is gaining momentum.
The group recently received an $800 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven.
And the block watch has inspired residents in the city’s other wards to consider forming similar groups.
The block watch held its fourth meeting last week at the Charter Hose Co. headquarters on Murray Street. The block watch was formed last fall in response to neighbor concerns about crime and drug activity.
“I walked the neighborhood a few months back and handed out flyers just trying to set things up,” said Ed Norman, a Grove Street resident who helped spearhead the block watch.
“It’s nice to see people walking in from the neighborhood,” Norman said to the 18 citizens who came to the meeting last Wednesday.
Block Watch members have said in the past the group has made a positive change on the neighborhood.
Extra Funding
The $800 grant will pay for about 20 – 25 signs to be placed around the Fourth Ward letting people know that a Block Watch is in effect, Norman said.
The money will also help the group create a website for residents to use as a communication tool.
The website will list ways to get in touch with captains, dates of future meetings and recorded activity of the neighborhood.
Other Movement
A “reverse 911 system,” which would alert citizens directly of suspicious or illegal activity, also is in the works, Norman said.
Norman urged citizens to continue to make the calls to the police and to the captains.
“Don’t be timid, don’t hesitate to call,” he said.
There are close to 60 volunteers and five or six captains set up right now, Norman said.
Each captain is responsible for a “little patch of the neighborhood,” he said.
Will Block Watch Expand?
Residents in other wards, fed up with apparent drug dealing and crime there, have also expressed interest in starting their own block watches.
“More and more of the wards are looking to organize,” Norman said.
Some First Ward residents have approached the Board of Police Commissioners asking for more patrols in their neighborhood.
Others, like Nicole, a Church Street resident from the Fifth Ward, came to the Fourth Ward meeting last week.
Nicole, who didn’t give her last name, said she has called the police about drug dealers in Pine Grove Cemetery.
“Now, police are constantly monitoring the entrance of the cemetery,” she said, “When the drug dealers see the presence of the cops, they flee.”
Frustrations
Many residents were frustrated because their calls were not getting through to the police.
Norman said to keep calling.
“The Police Department can’t go in like gangbusters but [if] they’re getting five or six or a dozen calls saying ‘hey, I see this kid dealing drugs’ then they had better start an investigation,” Norman said.
_The next block watch meeting is scheduled for July 14. _