Stronger and Safer Together Beyond Crime - A Neighborhood Watch Group is for Emergencies and Natural Disasters Too

​Chief Scoop Blogger, The #PZNA Neighborhood Nose

​The Parque Zaragoza neighborhood has a perfect walkability score for all the necessities  and desired luxuries of modern living, including retail shopping, hip bars and restaurants and several green spaces. 

Unfortunately, with the rise of criminal activities such as robbery by assault, assault with weapon and assault with injury and theft, those neighborhood assets - and even our streets and homes - feel less safe. It doesn't help that 55% of all criminal activities occur within a small 2,000 ft radius of where all the community resources are located. 

This past August, the PZNA conducted a crime analysis using City of Austin's Police Department Crime Viewer Open Source database. Some 1,110 crime citations were recorded within a 2,000 ft radius/perimeter of the East 7th Street and Pleasant Valley Road intersection during a two-year period from June 2018 through July 2020.

The Parque Zaragoza neighborhood like many areas in East Austin has seen a big turnover of new residents. Unlike the old days when neighbors were also aunts, uncles or cousins, our new residents are less likely to know the person next-door. A neighborhood association has many benefits. One of them is being able to establish a street, block or 'neighborhood watch' group with proper (and required) training through a two-hour online training course provided by the Austin Police Department. See the manual and volunteer sign up below. 

Neighborhood Watch groups are about getting the training to keep a better eye out for each other, not only for crime but also for natural disasters and emergencies. And, today more than ever with the pandemic continuing, a close community is stronger and safer together. 

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