Downtown residents look to start community watch program

Some downtown residents are so concerned about the increase in crime, they are taking matters into their own hands.

People who live in the downtown historic district are determined to get a community watch group up and running.

Franceen O’Toole spent the day going door-to-door, speaking with people and handing out flyers about a meeting tomorrow night.

She wants to encourage her neighbors to take precautions such as making sure they change their porch light bulbs, trim overgrown brush, and install motion-censored lights.

She says going door-to-door is a lot of work, but it’s important to help keep her neighbors safe.

“The response has been really, really great. People are ready to see a big change, I think, a lot of people really want to jump on board and work together as a community, you know, find out who your neighbors are, who the person is down the block from you,” said O’Toole.

O’Toole also wants to keep lines of communication open among downtown residents, police, and other community leaders.

To talk about starting a community watch group, residents of downtown’s historic district are invited to attend a meeting tomorrow at the Wilmington Police Station at 6:30 p.m.

Police will be there to answer questions and listen to concerns.