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Lindale neighborhood revamps Neighbors on Watch program

Law enforcement said the program helps them work in partnership with neighborhoods to keep them safe.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Residents are rallying together in the Lindale neighborhood, saying it is the best defense against crime.

They are part of one of the city's 36 Neighbors on Watch Programs and they want more to get involved.

The Corpus Christi Police Department works with neighborhoods across the city to create effective programs. Lindale is one of those neighborhoods -- and it has been actively working with CCPD to make its streets safer for years. 

Heidi Hovda lives in Lindale and said now is the time for more to get involved.

"Everybody wants to feel safe where they live, everybody deserves to feel safe where they live," she said.

Hovda's lived in Lindale for around 20 years. But she started to notice an increase in property theft in the neighborhood in the last month. She said the Neighbors on Watch program is one way to reduce crime -- and increase communication with police.

"That is the ultimate goal is to have a happy, safe, communicative community," she said.

Lindale's program currently has about 10 people signed up to watch different parts of the neighborhood. CCPD Crime Prevention Specialist Melissa Castro said that the program helps them work in partnership with neighborhoods.

"To try to create, you know, a safer community, a more aware community, and that, in turn, makes it a safer neighborhood," she said.

Castro said residents are the boots on the ground -- the best source to inform police of suspicious activity around where they live. 

"A lot of times, these Neighborhoods on Watch give us such important information that they almost solve the crime before, you know, the officer even gets involved. So, that's when you know that that communication is something that is very, very valuable, you know, to our agency," she said.

Hovda said Lindale has had a strong relationship with CCPD since before COVID-19, but said the pandemic made it more difficult for them to communicate as effectively. She and other program members want to return it to how it was -- and that begins with more recruitment.

"Neighborhood on Watch is there to help keep communities safe and the more neighbors that we have participate, the better off, the safer our neighborhood is going to be," she said.

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