West End community establishes neighborhood watch

Over several weeks of brainstorming and gallons of coffee, the West End community accomplished what rural America is well known for: Taking care of neighbors and their property.

“Several of us were discussing the interesting times in which we live, and the instability caused by the Chinese Flu, the number of unemployed people, the Antifa and BLM riots burning the cities, the threats to our First, Second, and Fourth Amendment Rights, and how many new people have moved into our area," said Bruce Charles, of DeBorgia. "I was asked by several people to put ‘something’ together for the community. So, I started researching the Neighborhood Watch Program and discovered that it was sponsored by the National Sheriff's Association and with a motto that states: “We Look Out For Each Other." It seemed like a good fit for the West End and Mineral County,” said Charles, of DeBorgia.

The West End Neighborhood Watch held its third organizational meeting on Feb. 3 at the Old School House in DeBorgia with 17 local citizens in attendance.

The meeting was to specifically talk with Mineral County Undersheriff Wayne Cashman to discuss how to work with the sheriff and his deputies.

Undersheriff Cashman spent a little over an hour discussing what type of information would be helpful to deputies to solve crimes and/or apprehend the bad guys.

Much of the discussion related to being aware of one’s surroundings and noticing unusual situations or strangers acting as if they were casing the neighborhood.

Additionally, the need to look out for your neighbor’s house and property while they are not at home was emphasized. An additional period of conversation was used to discuss when to call for assistance from the sheriff’s department.

A particularly good discussion related to the dangers related to an individual attempting to make a citizen’s arrest, and whether it might be a better and safer idea to just keep an eye on the bad guy so you could fully inform and direct the responding deputy to the area where the bad guy was located.

This dovetailed into communication challenges in the narrow canyon where most live and suggesting that Neighborhood Watch have handheld radios in case they lose telephone service for coordination as back up communication with deputies or the volunteer fire and EMT personnel.

Some of the audience’s questions related to the dangers of people on meth and PCP as well as a brief discussion related to the I-90 drug transportation problem.

A great dialogue related to the extraordinary work new Sheriff Mike Toth and his team have done to dramatically increase the capability of the department for the safety of the community. Lots of new training for the deputies, the dispatchers, and the newly hired detention officers.

As a result of smart and determined action by the sheriff and his team along with the county commissioners, the jail is open after many years of being closed.

All in all, it was a great meeting and all the participants greatly appreciate Undersheriff Cashman’s first-class presentation and straight forward answers to their many questions.

"It is very nice when communities partner with law enforcement to advance the safety of their communities while neighbors help one another, and Neighborhood Watch is a good program,” Cashman said. “The group was very attentive and had good questions. I enjoyed taking with them and look forward to being invited back.”

Charles is the overall Neighborhood Watch coordinator, but each area will have a "captain" to organize and recruit participants in their area. He talked about upcoming expenses they are anticipating.

“The big signs cost $43 so we hope people in each area will pony-up to purchase and install them at the entrance to each neighborhood," Charles said. "Individuals will also likely post signs on their own property. Possibly we can get some help from the commissioners as this is a demonstration of citizens working together with our sheriff's department for the safety of the whole community.”

The West End Neighborhood Watch is a strong example of people acting, rather than just talking about unforeseeable consequences and situations.