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Jax Beach man looks to start neighborhood watch program

A Jacksonville Beach man is looking to fight crime in the area by starting a formal neighborhood watch program.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. - A Jacksonville Beach man is looking to fight crime in the area by starting a formal neighborhood watch program.

Justin Witt lives in South Jacksonville Beach near Seabreeze Elementary School. Witt, who has lived at the beach for six years, believes crimes like car break-ins and burglaries are on the rise.

“As that increases I think that our awareness and knowledge and communication with each other is going to be key to help to reduce the crime,” Witt said.

Witt said he’s always kept a vigilant eye on his neighborhood. He said recently someone broke into and stole items from a neighbor’s garage.

“And I’ve also just noticed a lot more people on bicycles late at night that are going through the neighborhood,” Witt said. “And sometimes you’re wondering at 10:30 or 11 at night what they’re up to when they’re slowly parking their bicycle outside of the house.”

Witt said it wasn’t until his sister moved into a house down the street that he realized the extent of what was happening just beyond his front door.

“I would always see things but because there was nobody necessarily other than my wife to tell, she was the only one I was sharing it with,” he said. “And then when my sister moved in, we started constantly communicating about everything going on in the neighborhood. And then you start to realize the little things.”

That gave Witt an idea; what if the whole neighborhood could communicate like they do? Witt said a neighborhood watch program would open lines of communication within the neighborhood and with Jacksonville Beach Police.

“Where we can report crimes going on, but also partnering with police if a crime’s been committed to help identify who the suspect many be,” he said.

Witt posted on a community app to gauge interest and planned to reach out to the police department in the coming days to get the ball rolling.

If you live in South Jacksonville Beach near Seabreeze Elementary and want to contact Witt, you can email him at TheWittWatch@gmail.com.

Jacksonville Beach Police told First Coast News that the first step toward starting a neighborhood watch program is to have an interested person reach out to the department. Police will then meet with that person to make sure they understand the commitment required to make the program work. From there, a few neighborhood meetings are scheduled to see if commitment from the community is there.

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