The South River neighborhood watch program is back. Here's how to join

SOUTH RIVER - The South River Police Department is asking for residents' help to keep the community safe as it revives its neighborhood watch program.

"Now more than ever police officers are asked to do a lot more in the community," Police Chief Mark Tinitigan said. "We need the help of our residents. I feel our partnership with the community will be a lot stronger doing this."

A joint effort between the police department and community, the program's goal is to prevent crime through awareness, open communication, education, prevention plans, information sharing and community engagement, according to a post on the South River Police Department's Facebook page.

A kickoff meeting of South River's Neighborhood Watch Program will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 25, at the VFW Lyons Schepsco Post 1451, 31 Reid St.

The program is open to all borough residents.

Attendees are requested to register prior to the meeting by visiting tinyurl.com/SRNWmeeting or www.southriverpd.org.

Tinitigan said residents will learn what to look for and be educated on current crime trends. They will also get insight into how the department operates and what officers do, he said.

Signs will be placed at different locations alerting residents and non-residents that the neighborhood crime watch program is on the job.

As of Wednesday, about 62 residents had already signed up for the program, Tinitigan said.

The program will be run by Danielle Stone, the department's community policing officer.

Residents are complaining at brough council meetings and on social media about loud music, speeding, cars parked the wrong way on the street, cars parked too close to stop signs, and commercial vehicles parked in residential neighborhoods, the chief said.

"Those are just the small little things that we have that we try to take care of, but we need the community's help," he said.

Tinitigan said the department has 32 police officers that serve in various capacities.

Many residents are under the impression that the officers are working all at the same time, but that's not the case, he said.

"We may have between three and five officers patrolling at one time," Tinitigan said. "We always need our residents to help us by being our eyes and ears."

At borough council meetings, residents say they never want to call the police because they don't want to bother them, the chief said.

"How are we supposed to solve these problems if you don't call the police?" he said. "I always tell them to call police, but they never take me up on that. I think by opening up this avenue to the community maybe they'll realize we're only as good as when they help us."

Tinitigan said the borough, as well as other municipalities across New Jersey, has been experiencing catalytic converter thefts over the last several months.

A neighborhood watch program was in place in 2004 or 2005, Tinitigan said.

"We had about four or five burglaries in town within a month and a half period," he said, adding that Chief Wesley Bomba tasked him with the job of creating the neighborhood watch program.

Assisted by borough resident Mary Ann Hoffman, the watch program was started in the upper Main Street area, he said.

Halfway through the program, a woman reported that she saw a man going into a nearby abandoned building, the chief said. Police responded and recovered proceeds from several burglaries that occurred in town and the man was arrested, he said.

More: South River woman killed in single-vehicle crash: police

But, after about three months, the neighborhood watch Program fell to the wayside, the chief said.

"Social media was not prevalent back then so the word wasn't getting out as much as it is now," Tinitigan said. "I believe it's time to start the program again. Too many people are complaining and they really don't know how we operate and what we do. I think we just need to get together with the community and this way residents can see all the things the police department does on a day to day basis."

Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com

Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: The South River neighborhood watch program is back. Here's how to join