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Terri Moravec has been actively involved with neighborhood watch for six years. Moravec is also a block captain in her Wildwood Park neighborhood in downtown Redding. "When neighbors get to know each other, and look out for one another, they become the eyes and ears for law enforcement when there's suspicious activity in the neighborhood."(Photo: Greg BarnetteRecord Searchlight)

Shes going to come up with a word for it.

BecauseRedding neighborhood watch captain Terri Moravec just cant describe the feeling she gets from keeping her downtown street safe at the same time shes fostering relationships with the other people who live there.

Im not sure what you call it; its just something that happens when neighbors unite and youve got a safer little community within a larger community called Redding, said Moravec, whos been involved with the program for decades and also volunteers for the Redding Police Departments office that oversees it.

And when Moravec found out the East Oak subdivision off South Bonnyview Road was hit by vandals last week pushing one resident to speed up her plans to leave Redding neighborhood watch was the first thing that came to mind. She believes the groups are the answer for frustrated longtime Redding residents who arent used to seeing the crime some areas have long been known for and who are tempted to leave because of it.

Related: After woman's truck vandalized, she says she gives up on Redding

There seems to be a groundswell of this thinking. For several years now, we seem to focus on the negatives of Redding because were dealing with things that those of us who have been here a while have maybe never lived with before, she said. Doing things that make your neighborhood safe, actually focusing on behaviors that make your neighborhoods safe, sometimes you just dont feel so alone.

Jennifer Long, the resident whose husbands truck was spray-painted, said she was interested in the idea of a neighborhood watch group, but ultimately, there would have to be one in every pocket of the city for her to want to stay in Redding.

I dont feel safe going into town after dark, she said, and I know a lot of women feel the same way.

Its true that not enough neighborhoods have watch groups, Moravec said. There are at least a few dozen groups, according to the Redding Police Departments map. But getting them spread throughout town would create a critical mass of safety, she said.

I believe that there are things that every average citizen can do to not only make their own home safer but their neighborhood as well, which ultimately translates into a safer city, really, Moravec said. Weve got a great network going, but not every neighborhood is represented with neighborhood watch groups. Thats our goal.

Moravec said its empowering to learn what to do to keep your neighborhood safe the Police Department educates watch captains on important phone numbers for reporting different problems, for example. But she said theres also a social component. And both pieces form a cycle the relationships people make through the watch could end up making them safer, Moravec said.

You become invested in their safety and hopefully, she said, the reciprocal is true of that.

Neighborhood watch-type groups dont come without their share of infamy.

Florida resident George Zimmerman was acquitted of shooting and killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin as a neighborhood watchman, though the verdict shocked many since Martin was unarmed and Zimmerman had been following him.

Locally, a Cottonwood father and son were arrested this month for allegedly beating up a family delivering newspapers while patrolling as part of a self-styled neighborhood vigilante group. Then there was the Redding man who served jail time for pepper-spraying a neighbor while voluntarilypatrolling the neighborhood.

Moravec said those types of incidents dont represent what neighborhood watch groups are really about preventing crimes by keeping a watchful eye, not vigilante justice.

A neighborhood watch group never, ever, ever puts the neighbors in an unsafe situation or takes the law into their own hands, she said. The neighborhood watch group simply exists to work as the eyes and ears of law enforcement and to report suspicious activity.

Anyone interested in starting a group can call the Redding Police Departments neighborhood watch program at 225-4209 or email nwu@reddingpolice.org.

Moravec said training helps volunteers learn how to report various problems, and each watch group can customize what their main focus is for example, educating people about deterring car thefts by always locking doors and rolling up windows, or about discouraging mail thieves by spreading word about the importance of daily mailbox checks to their would-be victims.

You feel better after you said, Hey, I was able to effect a positive change that way, she said. There are an awful lot of things that you can do in your neighborhood to actually be safer not only feel safer, but become safer.

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Neighborhood watch captain says program is the answer to quality-of-life woes in Redding - Redding Record Searchlight