Salem block watch aims to increase membership

By D.A. Wilkinson

The program is focused on offsetting the city’s growing drug problem.

SALEM — The Salem Perry Township Crime Watch is off to a slow start.

With a combined population of about 29,200 people, the city and township’s new crime watch program has about 30 members.

But Roe Haskin Sr., the program’s director, said that’s normal when starting such a program. “Things are picking up,” Haskin said recently.

Part of an increase in membership comes when the initial members “get out and do some door knocking,” he said.

Mayor Jerry Wolford has named Haskin to head the program.

At the recent Memorial Day Parade in the city, some 250 copies of information about the new program were handed out to interested spectators.

“The more [people] we get out there, the more they get excited,” Haskin said. “It was a good, positive response.”

Haskin said of the block watch, “We’re not the eyes and ears of the police.” If people see a crime, they should call police, he added.

But the program is designed to let people be aware of what’s going on in their community, neighborhood block, or even their own apartment building.

Members can walk through an area, pass along information on the phone and generally be informed. Haskin said he may drive his van — that has a crime watch sign — and check abandoned homes that are popular with drug abusers.

Salem is one gateway for drugs entering Columbiana County, according to law enforcement officials. They link 80 percent of all crime to some sort of chemical abuse.

Haskin noted that many elderly people will often chat on the phone and pass along information about their neighborhood. The more people that get involved in some way, the easier it is to keep an eye on things, Haskin added.

The crime watch committee plans to take part in a number of upcoming events this summer.

The committee obtained a McGruff the Crime Dog costume, which is a character used by the National Crime Prevention Council. Susan Fekete, the organization’s secretary, said the character would be used during activities at Waterworth Park during the city’s Jubilee celebration July 19.

The crime watch also is in the process of becoming a nonprofit organization. Haskin said the Salem Community Foundation has donated $300 to the effort.

The watch officials said the program is for everyone in the city and township.

“It feels like the people are pulling together,” Fekete said.

wilkinson@vindy.com