program evaluation

Running head: EVALUATION OFNEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM 1

EVALUATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM

Abstract

There has been little work on the evaluation of neighborhood watch programs in the past. However,

scholars and policy makers have increasingly shown interest in identifying whether neighborhood

watch programs are effective. The studies conducted in the past have limitations which make them

unable to precisely measure the effectiveness of neighborhood watch programs. In response to

EVALUATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM 2

that, this paper proposes an elaborate evaluation technique which can assist in accurately

determining the effectiveness of the existing neighborhood watch programs. The paper does not

ignore the previous studies but instead explores them with the aim of offering theoretical

background of the programs and also explores the proposed techniques with the objective of

presenting a reliable and appropriate method of assessment.

Introduction

Neighborhood watch is also called neighborhood crime watch or crime watch. It refers to the

organization of civilians into a group which is devoted to crime or vandalism prevention within

their respective neighborhood. Neighborhood watch programs aim at achieving a wide range of

objectives related to the security of their neighborhood. Some of the objectives of this program

involve the educating community on security and safety of the neighborhood and establishing

means of maintaining a safety neighborhood. This program usually cooperate with law

enforcement agencies in such a way that if the neighborhood watch group identifies a criminal

they are expected to inform the authorities and not to engage. It is this attribute of the group that

differentiates it from vigilante groups.

In the United States there are numerous neighborhood watch groups and Rosenbaum (1988),

estimated that 20% of American residents were involved in the neighborhood watch activities by

1988. The organization and agenda of these groups vary but they all maintain that their main

objectives are related to the promotion of secure neighborhood and crime reduction. Current

systems of Neighborhood watch programs trace their origin back in 1960. According to

Rasenberger (2006), the shocking events of the murder and rape of Kitty Genovese compelled the

people to organize themselves into crime prevention groups. Ever since the Neighborhood Watch

EVALUATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM 3

programs have developed nationwide with the assistance of the National Sheriff's Association.

Various scholars have presented various analyses of these programs with the aim of identifying

whether the programs are effective. These evaluations have applied various approaches with some

having limitations which negatively influenced the results obtained. This paper seeks to present a

reliable method of evaluating the programs with the aim of shaping and improving them.

Different Neighborhood Watch groups operate differently and the manner in which they operate

has significant impact on the community. Since they operate within the area of expertise of the law

enforcement agencies, their actions also have implication on crime prevention strategies of the

authorities. Therefore, the evaluation of this group will not only improve the way they operate but

will also create a new understanding of crime prevention strategies from the perspective of both

the authorities and neighborhood watch programs. This paper seeks to pursue the line of reasoning

that an effective evaluation of neighborhood watch programs can help identify an appropriate

framework in which these groups can operate and to establish a constructive interaction of law

enforcement agencies and the neighborhood watch programs. Evaluation of a program is supposed

to be an ongoing process, in the sense that one evaluation creates a new platform on which other

evaluations can base their research. This will create a way in which a better way of evaluating the

program can be established. Therefore, the outcome of this paper is of great importance because it

can facilitate the establishment of a new paradigm through which other future evaluations can

follow. Future evaluations can also improve ways through which constructive criticism of the

approach presented in this article.

The paper seeks to explore ways through which the program in question can be evaluated in order

to shape its operation. It explores a wide range of scholars who evaluated the program in the past

as a means of giving the theoretical background of the program. The aim of conducting such a

EVALUATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM 4

research is to present the academic background of the program in order to provide a vivid

understanding of the theoretical framework of the program and to create an appropriate model

which can be applied in a wide range of neighborhoods. In the first section the paper gives various

reviews of different scholars regarding the topic in question. This section will give the theory

which connects to the program or its desired goals. The second section of the paper gives the

proposed methods of research which can apply in the evaluation and it is in this section that the

study variables are presented and the methods of data collection are elaborated. The third section

gives the conclusion derived from the given analysis of the proposed method of evaluation as well

as the recommendations which emerge from the evaluation. The evaluation of the program seeks

to answer critical questions regarding the program. Are neighborhood watch programs effective?

What can be done to improve neighborhood watch programs? What models can be applied in the

organization of the model?

Literature Review

It is important to note that previous studies have been conducted to answer the research questions

presented in this paper. This was necessitated by the need to comprehend the roles that

neighborhood watch program play in the national security. Therefore, these scholars have tried to

analyze the modern neighborhood watch program ever since 1960s

 Are neighborhood watch programs effective?

The effectiveness of neighborhood watch programs can be measured effectively only if the

objectives of the program are precisely identified. This can aid in measuring the discrepancy

between the theoretical foundation of the program and what it actually achieves. Laycock & Tilley

(1995) stated that neighborhood watch groups are supposed to be the "eyes and ears" of law

EVALUATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM 5

enforcement agencies. The members are supposed to observe the activities of the community and

to report any suspicious activities to the police. Therefore, their operations should be evaluated by

looking at the consistency of how they report to the law enforcement agencies and the number of

crimes prevented by the authority with the help of the neighborhood watch programs. Laycock &

Tilley et al. concluded that neighborhood watch programs have contributed in the reduction of

crimes, notably burglary. However, it cannot be discerned how this program contributed in crime

prevention or how the implementations were carried to secure the community.

It is also worth noting that neighborhood watch groups have a wide range of characters because

they apply different models. This is because there is no general accepted way of operation for these

groups. Therefore, these groups also register wide range of results based on the methods they

adopt. According to Bennett (1988), a good number of neighborhood watch groups registered high

level of effectiveness but there was also a good number of them whose effectiveness was not

observed. In fact, in some areas which had neighborhood watch groups, the level of crime

increased. This was attributed to poor implementation and weak designs of the specified programs.

In the case of rural areas, neighborhood watch has been seen to greatly reduce the fear of crime

and also contribute to the improvement of relationship between the authority and the local people

(Yarwood & Edwards 1995). The main characteristics of the rural neighborhood watch are the

existence of high level of voluntary action and commitment. Although all neighborhood watch

programs are based on the basis of voluntary action, the levels of commitments are usually

different. Those with high level of commitment usually register better performances than those

with low levels of commitment.

The diversity of neighborhood watch programs is not only limited to the United States but it is also

evident in other countries. Different countries have different designs and models of neighborhood

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watch programs; therefore, they also registered different levels of effectiveness. Beyer (1993)

gives an elaborate description of how neighborhood watch programs operate in Victoria, Australia.

The works reveal that the program which was initiated by Victoria Police force proved to be

extremely effective. The level of coordination between members of the public and the involved

police officer was good and the results of the scheme favored both sides. In the United Kingdom,

over a quarter of the population live under neighborhood watch programs and the schemes have

greatly contributed to crime prevention in these areas (Bennet, Holloway & Farrington 2006). The

neighborhood watch in the UK are administered through a coordinator who links the community

and the local law enforcement agencies. This aspect of the scheme is what really makes it very

effective.

 What can be done to improve neighborhood watch programs?

It is generally accepted that neighborhood watch programs improve security regardless of the

degree. However, it is also obvious that there is also need for improvement of the program in order

to increase the level of effectiveness. Rosenbaum et al pointed out that if traditional means of

social control do not perform adequately then there was a great need to improve informal social

control and restore the essence of "neighborhood". Different scholars have offered different

opinions on how to improve neighborhood watch programs:

 Establish further studies on neighborhood watch programs

Mukherjee & Wilson (1987) argued that there was need for systematic research and development

of database for neighborhood watch programs. This observation is aligned with Laycock & Tilley

et al who also observe that little study has been done on the subject in question. This clearly shows

that further and deeper evaluation of the existing programs is essential for improvement of the

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schemes. Evaluation refers to the systemic determination of the merits, weaknesses and

significance of a program or policy with the aim of ascertaining the degree of level of achievement

with the aim of improving it (Qian, Zhing & Zhao 2016). Therefore, there should be rigorous

analysis of effectiveness, accountability and efficiency of neighborhood watch programs across

the country. This will help identify the limitations of the program, examine its achievement and

the impact it has on both law enforcement agencies and the community so as to draw a clear

understanding on the significance of the scheme.

 Establish an appropriate model

model refers to symbolic, physical, graphical or verbal representation of a concept. It is a simplified

human construct which facilitate the understanding of how the real world operates. An effective

model is a result of effective study of the program because it is the evaluation process that

determines the theoretical framework of the program.

 What model can be applied in the organization of the program?

In order to determine the most effective model of neighborhood watch program in any part of the

country, it is important to acknowledge the fact that every community possess a unique character.

Therefore, the model should accommodate the specific character of the region in question. The

type of crime is also unique to the region; therefore, a lot of consideration should be put in fitting

the model to the type of crime experienced. There are certain factors that should be considered

before building a model of neighborhood watch group:

 Objective of the program; -This could range from increasing the community role in the

prevention of crime to educating the public on crime and crime prevention strategies.

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 Activities;- Identify the appropriate activities of the program like establishing a

neighborhood watch group, holding neighborhood watch meetings, conducting nightly

neighborhood watch patrol, police conducting a home security surveillance upon request

or distributing vital information like crime warnings across homes.

 Process measures;- These are the specific steps of a program which have negative or

positive impact to the outcome. They could include: number of residence who volunteer,

number of neighborhood watch meetings, number of crime prevention presentation

conducted by both neighborhood watch groups and the police and number of home security

survey made.

 Outcome measures;- This could include number of crimes reported to the police or number

of crime that occurred in the designated area according to the report of the police.

Using the above information, it is advisable to use a process model in the construction of the

program. It is a description of the process at the type level and it offers a rough anticipation of

what the process will look like and what will be determined during the actual system development

(Rolland 1998). According to Songer, Ibbs & Napier (1994), process model should include:

a. Sequential, concurrent and hierarchical management activities

b. Management decisions required throughout the process

c. Relationship between activities and processes required to plan the program

Methodology

The nature of the program to be evaluated will require a mixed method research; the combination

of both quantitative and qualitative methods of evaluation in order to acquire the most precise

results. Quantitative methods is the empirical analysis of the observable phenomenon through

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mathematical or statistical techniques. This technique will enable one to develop the right models

or hypothesis related to the phenomenon under study (Kaplan 2004). Qualitative method explores

the totality of a situation in order to present an understanding of a phenomenon or a situation. It

seeks to answer the question why? and how? By examining in depth purposive samples to better

understand a phenomenon (Patton 1990). Combining these two methods of evaluation will provide

a better understanding than employing one research method. In this case it will not be appropriate

to apply experimental design because it is impossible for the researchers to maintain control of all

factors which will affect the results of the evaluation. Therefore, the researcher will not be able to

test the proposed hypothesis so as to reach the desired conclusion. The evaluation of neighborhood

watch program is an outcome evaluation because it assesses the effectiveness of the program.

Data collection

First, it is important to note the variables in the evaluation of the program. The dependent variable

in this case is the reported cases of crime by the police. The construct is measured by assuming

that the reported crime is a valid measure of all crime committed. The independent variable in this

case is the community and the evaluation will examine the communities that employ neighborhood

watch programs and those that don't. The control variable in this case is the law enforcement

agencies. In order to acquire information in areas covered by the program, there is need to acquire

information from organizations like:

 Citizen observer

 Crimestoppers

 Guardian angels

 National Neighborhood Watch Program

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 National Night out

These organizations will provide good sources of information on the rate of crime in areas which

apply the program. The local law enforcement agencies of these regions are also another unit of

analysis. The study of the two types of unit of analysis: neighborhood watch programs and the

local police, will provide an understanding under which conditions the program is most effective.

Another important factor in the evaluation process is the measurement of goals, variables or

outcome of the project. The goal of the program is to reduce crime as well as educate the

community on crime and crime prevention. The goals of the program can be measured by relating

them to time. The number of crime reported by the police within a specified time can be recorded

to observe if neighborhood watch reduces the number of crimes reported. This will measure the

level of achievement in reducing crime. Education of the community on crime and crime

prevention can be measured by conducting a survey on the attitude of the community towards

crime and crime prevention. Ordinal measurement can be used to measure the variables with 1=

Excellent 2=Good 3= Poor. 1 signifies a perfect performance of the variables 2 is average and 3 is

the poorest performances.

Sampling and Survey methods

The process of selecting samples from the target population is the most crucial in the data

collection method. This is because it is the methods of sampling that will determine the results

acquired in the evaluation. In this case the population under study is too large; therefore, one should

carefully select the chosen samples which will be an accurate representation of the entire

population. A carefully selected samples will result to a more reliable conclusion. Since the

objective of the evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the neighborhood watch programs in

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reducing crime, it is important to utilize data collected from crime database like National Crime

Information Center (NCIC). This will enable the evaluator to identify areas which record high

level of crimes. The crime under study should be reduced to burglary because most neighborhood

watch programs only focus on the protection of homes and not the pursuit of all crimes. The areas

with the highest level of burglaries and lowest number of burglaries should be identified. This

should represent the targeted population and sampling should be done from these areas not the

entire country.

Data can be collected through web based questionnaire and paper based questionnaire. Web based

questionnaire can be sent to the official of local authority and neighborhood watch program. They

can fill the questionnaire and send it back to the evaluators. Paper based questionnaire can be sent

through the postal mail to selected members of the community and incentive can be provided to

them in order to increase the response rate. In order to maximize the rate of response rate, it is

advisable to conduct interview through telephone. This can help in obtaining information from

leaders of local neighborhood watch groups.

Advantages of proposed sources

1) Web based questionnaire is cost effective because it does not require a lot of labor. The

only cost of conducting web based survey is establishing an Internet model which connects

the evaluators and the targeted population.

2) The web based survey saves on time because the evaluator receives response immediately

they are completed by the evaluaee.

3) Paper based survey is able to reach those who lack the essential computer literacy;

therefore, they increase the response rate which will be helpful in the analysis process.

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Disadvantages of proposed sources

1) Web based survey requires high level of expertise in the creation of the Internet model.

The evaluators also require to have high level of training regarding the operation of the

Internet models

2) Paper based survey is expensive and requires a lot of labor. It is also time consuming and

will delay the whole evaluation process.

Data analysis

Data analysis is a vigorous process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming and modelling data with

the objective of obtaining vital and useful information from the collected data and supporting

decision making. In this case data analysis should encompass both quantitative and qualitative

analysis methods. The qualitative analysis method assigns specific qualities to the data collected

through academic research. This will help in creating a theoretical background of the

understanding which arises from the collected data. Application of content analysis is appropriate

because it gives the research a sense of direction. It is essential in the analysis of qualitative data

because it facilitates easy transformation of qualitative data into quantitative data and helps in

making inferences about the content of the recorded text (Holsti, 1969).

The evaluation of neighborhood watch programs depends on the diverse narration obtained.

Therefore, it is advisable to apply narrative analysis in order to precisely identify the kind of tales

told about the program and the actual representation of the program in the society. Identification

of the tales of the program will allow the evaluator to formulate the generalization of concepts,

structure and attitude of the program.

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Quantitative analysis is also important to simplify the concepts and the data collected. Statistical

findings can be presented in a table in order to give the evaluator the pattern of the crime pattern

in the areas which apply neighborhood watch program. It is prudent to collect historical annual

data of the last 10 years and tabulate it. The numerical data of the different regions can be

represented in a graph as a way of simplifying the explanation of the collected data.

Conclusion

From the analysis of the propose method of evaluation, there are vital information which arises

that are significant in the actual work of evaluation. These information are the product of the

understanding obtained from the above analysis. It is worth noting that the above analysis, brings

out the understanding that the main objective of an evaluation process it to offer a rigorous analysis

of a program with the aim of improving it. In this case, the evaluation seeks to analyze the

effectiveness of neighborhood watch program so as to improve it. This is aligned with the

observation of Del & Gaster (2002) who argued that evaluation is an invaluable tool for

improvement of a program because it enables the reflection and assessment of a program for future

benefit. This understanding helps to dictate how the evaluator should conduct the evaluation

process. The main concern of the evaluator should be to maintain objectivity throughout the

research, identify the merits, weaknesses of the program in order to arrive at a better understanding

of the program.

Another understanding which arises from the above analysis is that data collection and analysis

are the most vital because they determine which kind of results the evaluator will obtain. Therefore,

a lot of emphasis should be put in these processes in order to avoid evaluation errors. Errors can

be minimized by diversifying the sources of information and methods of acquiring these data.

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Error refers to the differences between the value obtained from the collected data and the true value

of the population. For example, in the above analysis, the total number of burglaries are equated

to the number of burglaries reported by the police. It should be noted that the number of burglaries

reported could only represent a fraction of the total number of burglaries which occur. This is

because there are others which go unreported; therefore, the evaluator should seek an alternative

source of data which can offer another record of total number of burglaries and the evaluator can

use empirical data to compare the two types of data. In the process of analysis, the evaluator should

avoid being bias or formulating immature assumption which can limit the results. Mathematical

formulae like the standard distribution of errors can be applied to precisely calculate and reduce

the errors.

Recommendations

There are certain recommendations which may arise after the evaluation of the program is

conducted. These recommendations are:

 There should be further study on the agenda and activities of neighborhood watch programs

in order to draw a general idea of why they were established. It is widely accepted that

neighborhood watch groups have a wide range of agendas; therefore, evaluating the

effectiveness of these groups with a generalized idea could lead to inaccurate results. A

closer look of their objectives should be considered in order to effectively analyze their

outcome.

 There should also be a close study of the models applied by these neighborhood watch

programs and the kind of interactions they have with the local law enforcement agencies.

This can help identify what determines the effectiveness of these groups.

EVALUATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM 15

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