NEESES – Shhhh … the town of Neeses is trying to get the word out to residents on its best kept secret. The Crime Watch program in this western Orangeburg County municipality has quietly experienced revitalization since the beginning of the year. However, still more people are needed to make the effort a viable crime deterrent.

Mike Hyman, one of the leaders of the Neeses Crime Watch program, says the initiative began in April 2003. After an initial burst of activity and support, the program experienced a steady decline before a mutual push by town officials and residents led to renewed interest in February.

“At first it had an effect on the drug activity, stealing and folks ignoring the speed limit, racing up and down U.S. 321,” Hyman said. “Deputies came when we called and appeared when we asked them to speak to the groups.”

Crime Watch now holds its meetings the first Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at Neeses Town Hall. While most of these are well attended, Hyman and other initiative leaders like Charles Fenton, say getting people in Neeses to buy into the program is what is needed for long-term success.

Neeses Mayor Joe Corbett says the town is taking an active stance in supporting Crime Watch.

“We’re sending out flyers, we have it on the marquee in front of town hall, and through word of mouth, and we include it in the Community Calendar portion of The T&D,” Corbett said. “We want to continue to do these things to encourage people to become a part of Crime Watch. So far we’ve had about 20-25 people coming to the meetings every month. If we could get them to each bring one person, this group could really grow.”

Corbett says he feels the resuscitated Crime Watch has become a real deterrent in a town that does not currently have a police force.

“In the last two months, the Sheriff’s Department has beefed up patrols in town and we’ve had some of our more troublesome residents move out of town,” Corbett said. “More people participating in Crime Watch will make it even better.”

Neeses Councilwoman Wanda Ammons says the program has block captains who are individually responsible for organizing at the neighborhood levels, called zones. This ensures the residents in a given area know who is supposed to be there and are on the lookout for suspicious activity and individuals.

Ammons said she feels Crime Watch is now “going in the right direction compared to where it was around the first of the year.”

Deputies with the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office continue to work with the Neeses Crime Watch by presenting programs each month on topics ranging from preventing identity theft to recognizing suspicious people.

In addition to creating procedures that members could use in checking on their neighbors’ well-being, Hyman also suggests that Crime Watch can improve its effectiveness by working on other issues.

“I would like to discuss working on recognizing all kinds of suspicious activity,” said Hyman, a former correctional officer. “With terrorism on the rise, we have a prime target close to us at the North Army Air Base. Crime Watch could also work with the authorities in coordinating natural disaster assistance in town.”

Fenton, a Neeses volunteer firefighter for 21 years, has experience working with law enforcement authorities. He says being in Crime Watch will help Neeses residents learn how officers do their jobs.

The ultimate goal for the Neeses group is to have a deputy permanently assigned to patrol between North and Norway, Fenton said.

“Having an officer that could be close by in the area is the best-base scenario,” he said. “But Crime Watch is having a positive effect on the crime problem. We have been told by sheriff’s deputies that several criminals have been locked up because of our efforts.

T&D Correspondent Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at pmhsarata@aol.com.

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