With the acceleration of remote work and a Bay Area exodus at the height of the pandemic, community-focused volunteerism often fell by the wayside.
But some San Mateo residents are trying to reinvigorate those efforts, bringing in more participants to initiatives like neighborhood watch groups to stimulate friendlier connections and bolster safety efforts.
Danielle Cwirko-Godycki, board member of the Neighborhood Watch, said she hopes the organization can reverse the trend of dwindling participation since COVID-19.
“We’re trying to build back that presence. Neighborhood Watch used to do fun things when a new person moved into the community,” Cwirko-Godycki said.
The group partners with the San Mateo Police Department, through which block captains sign up, providing safety tips, information and acting as a liaison between the neighborhood and law enforcement.
“One of the top issues that’s coming up is crime and public safety, so it’s definitely prevalent on people’s minds in how they can be involved and engaged, but they don’t necessarily know all the programs that exist,” Cwirko-Godycki said.
Jeanine Luna, Community Relations officer with the San Mateo Police Department, and the group’s program coordinator, said the city has seen particularly strong involvement compared to neighboring jurisdictions over the years. However, with the advent of Nextdoor, an online platform for neighbors to communicate, face-to-face interaction also seemed to take a dip. While the site has its benefits, it still doesn’t replace in-person relationships.
“Where Nextdoor has taken it, people are talking and posting online, and the Police Department can’t see it. They can communicate online but if someone is saying, ‘I have a video of someone breaking into a neighbor’s car, unless someone sends that information to me, it may not be reported,” Luna said. “Or, a crime may have been reported, but we don’t have the video evidence that’s on Nextdoor.”
Residents from any part of the city can sign up, and currently there are about 200 volunteers throughout San Mateo, Luna said. Cwirko-Godycki said everyone has different motivations for joining, but as someone who lives on the east side of Highway 101, it was an important way to get involved, particularly as residents in the area have tended to underreport when incidents occur.
“Between the neighbors, we talk amongst ourselves about different public safety concerns, and so creating more of a connection point to the Police Department is what motivated me,” she said.
The group will hold a recruiting event 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 29, at the San Mateo Police Department.
Registrants can sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/recruiting-block-captains-for-our-neighborhood-watch-program-tickets-876197669817.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
Daily Journal staff
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(1) comment
Thank you for writing about this! Hope to see some new faces at next week's recruiting event!
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