Dog Walker Watch is a program developed by the National Association of Town Watch, the same organization that brought National Night Out to our communities. The program encourages neighbors to assist local law enforcement as extra eyes and ears in the community. The program enhances the partnership between police and community, while teaching neighbors how to effectively observe and report suspicious activity. 

Who can Participate?

Anyone can participate! Despite its name, the program is not just for dog walkers, and requires no special training. While dog walkers are out frequently and along the same route, so are runners, walkers, and parents out playingwith children. Because law enforcement officers can't be everywhere, citizen involvement is essential. Many arrests of criminals come as a direct result of citizens contacting police about suspicious activity.

What is Suspicious Activity?

Despite being most aware of their neighborhoods, we often come across residents who didn’t contact law enforcement about suspicious activity for a variety of reasons:

• They didn’t want to call 911 because they didn't think it was an emergency.
• They didn’t know what number to call instead.
• They might have been afraid they were misinterpreting the activity and didn’t want to be embarrassed. 
• They might have assumed someone else was calling authorities. 

All are reasons we have heard many times. This program is designed to empower residents with both the knowledge to know who to call, and the confidence to make that call.

Suspicious activity takes into account the totality of the circumstances present to you at the time. And what is suspicious in one neighborhood, might be normal activity in another.