Dog Walker Watch is a crime awareness program spanning 3,000 cities in the United States. Prescott Valley is the latest community in Arizona to participate.
The idea behind Dog Walker Watch is for local law enforcement to train regular people, who are out walking their dogs, to also keep a watchful eye in their neighborhoods — and call 911 if need be.
Matt Peskin is the director of the National Association of Town Watch, which created the program. He says it’s been around 10 years, but its success in prevention is difficult to track.
“And it’s also difficult to track incidents when they occur. So in other words if something was to happen and somebody called something in it’s not like they identify themselves as a Dog Walker Watch, trainee, or anything like that," Peskin said.
He says it has helped local law enforcement revitalize community participation in crime prevention.
Volunteers go through about a one-hour training that can vary from community to community.
-
The grand jury indictments of Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez Jr. list the same charges previously filed in direct complaints by prosecutors. -
Back in January, federal immigration agents raided each of the 14 Zipps Sports Grill locations across metro Phoenix. They were looking for undocumented workers and ended up arresting dozens of them. -
Right in the middle of Phoenix, there is a temporary holding facility where detainees are being held much longer than they are supposed to be and ICE agents have called 911 multiple times. -
The Jerome Police Department is asking the town council to consider installing security cameras at public safety facilities. -
Last week, Cottonwood and Payson joined nine other communities in Arizona in cutting ties with Flock over privacy violation and law-enforcement misuse concerns. Queen Creek will keep its Flock program, but with tighter guardrails.
