A Neighborhood Watch Program was authorized by the Crestlake Homeowners' Association Board of Directors during the Annual Meeting in January 2009 and a Neighborhood Watch Committee was established. The committee members are Jim Brock, Michele Guido and Ginny Bolan, who are all on the CHOA Board of Directors.

Neighborhood Watch meetings are currently held on the third Thursday of the month at La Luna Cafe. The meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. Parents are welcome to bring children because child care can be provided at the meetings. Please contact Michele Guido to request child care.

Click here to read summaries of Neighborhood Watch meetings.

What is Neighborhood  Watch?
The Neighborhood Watch program is a watch and report program. It does not involve any kind of neighborhood patrol or vigilante activity. The program is designed to encourage neighbors to become aware of the people, vehicles and activities in their neighborhood so that they are more likely to notice unfamiliar people, vehicles or unusual activities.

Block Captain Duties
Block Captains are volunteers who collect contact information for the residents in their area. The Block Captains collate the information, disperse it to the residents of their area who are participating in the program and ensure that the information is kept current. With the information, if a resident becomes concerned that there may be a problem, he or she has sufficient information and guidelines to know to call 911 if an emergency exists or reach either the owner of the home that is the object of concern or the Block Captain if the situation is not an emergency. In the event that a neighbor expresses a concern to a Block Captain, the Block Captain can offer to contact the owner of the home where a potential problem exists or contact the Champaign County Sheriff Department to ask that a deputy come out to determine the extent of the problem and attempt to resolve any problem that might exist. Block Captains are free to do more than is described above, such as encourage residents in their areas to get better acquainted by planning social activities, but they are not required to do so.

Please remember that the Block Captains are resources for your area, not enforcers of the law, ordinances or covenants. They can discuss your options with you, but they are not able to enforce compliance.

Neighborhood Watch Activities and Needs
Crestlake has been divided into 12 areas, consisting of approximately 28 homes each, for which Block Captains are needed. Block Captains have volunteered for nine of the areas, but Block Captains are still needed for the remaining three areas.

Some of the Block Captains are working on plans for block parties. These parties are expected to both encourage interaction among the residents of the area and provide the residents with additional information about the Crestlake Neighborhood Watch program.

Neighborhood Watch signs were purchased by the Crestlake Homeowners' Association from the Village of St. Joseph and were installed throughout Crestlake.

Issues Needing Community Input
Several issues need to be decided in regard to the Neighborhood Watch program. These issues include:
• The composition of the Neighborhood Watch Committee
• The purpose and frequency of the Neighborhood Watch meetings
•  Interest in guest speakers to provide information on personal, residential and/or identity security
•  Interest in or desire for an electronic Neighborhood Watch newsletter
•  Neighborhood-wide guidelines for reporting problems and concerns in Crestlake

Please Volunteer
Crestlake residents interested in getting more information, volunteering to serve as Block Captains or having experience with other Neighborhood Watch programs, please click here to contact one of the Committee members. The success of our Neighborhood Watch program depends on the efforts of all Crestlake residents. We can always use more help!