ODESSA, Texas — With the recent events happening across West Texas, some people in Permian Basin may feel a little anxious when it comes to their own safety.
One way that people have been stepping up to keep their neighborhoods safe is by signing up for the neighborhood watch.
The main purpose of a neighborhood watch is in the name: citizens watching over the neighborhood in the name of safety.
“It’s just so important to be a good neighbor and watch out for them, look out for and report suspicious persons, report suspicious vehicles and suspicious activity," said Steve LeSueur of the Odessa Police Department. "If something doesn't seem right it probably isn't.”
Sometimes, it's the close eyes of the community that can prevent a major crime from hitting the streets.
“A lot of time, those calls where people call in and report something as a suspicious person or maybe they [are] going to report a vehicle that was stolen or a person [that] has a felony warrant," said LeSueur. "You never know, they [might be] found with stolen property, you'd be surprised how often that happens.”
While some people may not want to bother the police or are worried that they are overthinking things, Odessa police actually encourages people to act on that gut feeling.
“What a lot of people don't realize is that sometimes they think they're wasting our time but what they don't realize is that when they call and actually report a suspicious activity or a suspicious vehicle, we respond to them and a lot of times it does result in arrest," said LeSueur. "It could possibly solve several crimes and prevent other crimes from occurring.”
Even if a neighborhood isn’t a part of a neighborhood watch, OPD offers some services and tips to keep your own home safe from suspicious activity.
“We do offer security assessments for free. We look at the lighting and the landscaping, we evaluate things like that," said LeSueur. "Also, surveillance cameras are excellent. Surveillance cameras are [a] huge deterrent to crime. Not only does the surveillance footage help solve a lot of crimes, but it helps prevent a lot of other ones from occurring.”
For some people who want to join in on the neighborhood watch, it's actually a lot more simple than it seems.
“It's very easy to contact our relations division. Just call at (432)-335-4961," said LeSueur. "You can also do a virtual neighborhood watch simply by signing up with Nextdoor."