Strengthening Communities: Neighborhood Watch and the Elderly in a Pennsylvania Town

Abstract

Innovative police departments have to address two pronounced changes in the twenty-first century—the increasing elderly population and declining police resources. Neighborhood Watch programs may be an effective means of handling both concerns. However, evaluations of Neighborhood Watch programs are mixed. Evaluating such programs within specific contexts and with various outcome variables may be important in understanding conditions under which Neighborhood Watch complements policing tactics. This study examines the relationship between Neighborhood Watch, fear of crime and the view of the police by the elderly (n = 201) in a predominantly white, working-class, non-urban town. Furthermore, this study examines whether residing near a local crime ‘hot spot’ affects the relationship between these three factors. Findings suggest that for the elderly in non-urban towns, Neighborhood Watch programs successfully reduce fear of crime, regardless of one's proximity to a crime ‘hot spot’; however, Neighborhood Watch's effect on the elderly's view of the police is mixed.