Oxford Neighborhood Watch

Megan Neiheisel, Colin Atwater, Chris Viens, Tucker Robinson,

Sara Meurer
Miami University

Introduction
Oxford, Ohio experienced an increase in crime over the past year. In response, the Oxford
Watch program is being formed. The Neighborhood Watch counts on citizens to organize
themselves and work with law enforcement to keep a trained eye and ear on their communities,
while demonstrating their presence at all times of day and night. (Neighborhood Watch)

The addition of an Oxford Watch program will serve the entire community by reducing
overall crime and keeping the streets safe. The Oxford Watch aims to focus efforts around offcampus housing, an area which is not as heavily patrolled by the Oxford police force, as Miami
University Police primarily monitor on-campus residences. With the recent uptick in crime
within the Oxford community and the amount of students rattled by the events, having students
being more involved will help police protect the community of Oxford in which the students call
home.

Review of Background
Figure 1 shows crime in Oxford compared to crime in all of Ohio (AreaVibes).

The table shows that Oxford has more violent crime per 100 thousand people than the
Ohio average. Furthermore, 75% of cities in Ohio are safer than Oxford and crime increased by
2% from 2014-2015 in Oxford (AreaVibes). Part of this problem can be addressed to the number
of police officers per 1000 residents. Oxford has 30 police officers and therefore 1.4 officers per
1000 residents (AreaVIbes). The state of Ohio as a whole has 2.4 officers per 1000 residents
(AreaVibes). This disparity shows Oxford crime and safety can be improved with more police
officers.

One possible solution lies in the formation of Oxford Watch. This initiative would consist
of community members, and would work in junction with law enforcement in Oxford. The goal
of the watch would be to increase safety in the community through giving law enforcement more
eyes and ears in the city. The only way The Oxford Watch is feasible if community members
consider it a realistic and effective way to increase safety in Oxford.

A survey was created to determine community members interest in forming such a

group. Because Miami University students are a relevant percentage of Oxfords population,
surveying this sample made the most sense in getting feedback on The Oxford Watch.
Additionally, Miami University students would likely be the participants in The Oxford Watch if
it were to be implemented-- therefore, the support and feedback of this population is crucial to
the initiative. Using existing information and prior knowledge on crime in Oxford, surveying
students was the best way to get an idea to see if a watch group would be interesting and
important to other students.

Method

In order to reach a conclusion on what students think and how they feel about the safety
of Oxford, a survey was conducted among Miami students. The survey consisted of 10 solid
questions that were thought to encompass what the nonprofit is about, and would allow some
background information to be obtained on what precautions students take in regards to safety.
Students were also surveyed on how competent they feel the City of Oxford and Miami
University Police are in terms protecting the community from crime. The aim of the survey was
to get a holistic view of how safe students really feel Oxford is, and not just sticking to the
saying of the Oxford Bubble since crime does occur.

The majority of students live off-campus where break-ins are more prone to happen,
especially while students are on breaks and away from their residences. In 2014, there were 111
burglaries and 346 thefts (citydata.com), and since coming back to school this year there have
been two shootings that occurred within a week of each other, in which one of them involved
two students being taken to the hospital. Unfortunately, the off-campus houses and apartments
seem to be most targeted by criminals. The local residents, typically not college students, are
often identified as Oxford population aside from Miami University students. Things such as
walking at night with a friend, and locking exterior doors and windows to houses are simple
preventative measures students can take to prevent crime in their homes, but this does not always
happen.

It was decided to ask a wide variety of questions spanning from being very general, to
some being more specific. Students were also asked what some of their habits are in terms of
safety, such as locking doors and walking with a friend late at night, all of which Miami

encourages their students to do. However, all students do not take heed to this advice but it is
good to know which ways we can most effectively implement a neighborhood watch program,
and educating students on their own safety could be one way to do so.

Results
According to the survey, Miami students generally feel safe in the Oxford community as
a whole with a response rate of 68.7%. While students do feel safe in Oxford there are measures
that we can take to make them feel even safer and build a better relationship with the community.
It seems that our results are split to how students practice safety both in and out of their own
homes. The majority of students do consistently lock their doors at night, however during the day
is when most students fail to lock their doors.

With slightly increasing crime rates it would make perfect sense that the Oxford Watch be
created. While crime rates have only grown by 2% any growth in crime is not going in a positive
direction, and this can easily be stopped by the implementation of a neighborhood watch. Also
not a single person who took the survey knew that there was an increase in the crime rate, which
shows this is not a problem that is in everyones mind.

Almost 85% of the people surveyed did not feel comfortable or do not know if they
would feel comfortable in responding to a crime that they see occurring. The Oxford Watch
would have students who do feel comfortable doing that and can alert the police to what the
perpetrator is doing. This would give the Oxford police an extra set of eyes and ears to know
what is going on in the community, making it safer.

Most importantly, slightly over 20% of the people surveyed still did not lock their doors
at night and almost 30% walked alone at night. The Oxford Watch would also inform the
community on how they can stay safer by doing things like locking their doors or walking
together at night, and reduce crime in that way as well. While just over 9% of people surveyed
have been a victim of a crime in Oxford, that can be reduced by simple things, such as organized
patrols and informing the community of safe behavior.

Discussion
The survey found 50% of the surveyors would be interested in participating in the
Neighborhood Watch, which shows general interest from the community. Community

participation is the biggest thing that the Oxford Watch would need since it is a community
driven program that polices the area to reduce crime. The Oxford Watch would be focused on the
off-campus housing for the students of Miami University and would consist of groups patrolling
the designated areas. The program would not cost anything to run, because it consists of
volunteers looking out for the good of the community. All that the program would need to run
would be a web page or public Facebook group so that information that the Oxford Watch puts
out could be viewed by the public. Since the program itself is very low maintenance with little
startup, it would be an easy and useful thing to add to the community.

While over 60% of students surveyed said that they felt safe in Oxford, almost 10% had
been victims of a crime. Since many crimes on or near a college campus are crimes of
opportunity, if a program like the Oxford Watch was created, it could lower the amount of these
crimes if people knew they were potentially being watched. The Oxford Watch could also
promote safety tips to help prevent avoidable instances where a crime could occur. Since the
Oxford Watch is associated with the Oxford Police Department, they could be a useful resource
with adding tips on how to stay safe.

As long as the Oxford Watch stays in proper contact with the Oxford Police Department
there wouldnt be any legal issues with the program. Aside from getting volunteers, the biggest
problem being faced would be the scheduling of the patrols and coordinating who all would be
working together and when. Since this would most likely consist of college students whose
schedules are not usually concrete and can change easily, this could prove to be a potential issue.

Withholding extenuating circumstance, all patrols will be conducted in teams of at least

two members for the primary purpose of member safety and secondary purpose related to
member retention. To ensure active membership, the Oxford Watch will aim to build a strong
rapport amongst its members by holding regular social events. With a developed sense of
comradery, the members will enjoy the time spent on watch as it allows further bonding between
members. Furthermore, the team patrols will allow members to hold each other accountable and
discourage members from disappointing their friends.

Limitations on Research Design

The two biggest limiting factors about the program would be getting enough people to do
the patrols and making sure they happen with regularity since it is a volunteer program. Out of
the 32 students that took the survey, 16 said that they would be interested in joining. This is a
small sample of the potential pool of participants and therefore getting people interested in
participating in the program shouldnt prove to be very difficult. In order to get a more accurate
picture as to how many students would actually be interested in participating in a neighborhood
watch, we would send out a survey to 500 students which would provide a larger sample size.

The other problem would be the scheduling of the patrols, and who would be on them at
the different times. With a large group of participants, enough of their schedules should line up
allowing small groups to be formed with peoples free time. There could also be a sign up where
the participants, knowing their own schedules, could sign up for any day that works for them.
This sign up would be in a central location so everyone in the program could easily see and edit

the schedule. Once people start to sign up, other people will see that and would possibly be
interested in signing up too. Every student in the area will be encouraged to sign up since Oxford
Watch is helpful to everyone in the community.

In order to improve our plans for the Oxford Watch group, the researchers could have
asked questions when surveying students as to how they believe safety could be improved or
what the group could do to help students. It is important to have information on what students
believe would be helpful in getting others to engage in the program in order to make the group
effective once it begins. The voice of the students are what matter the most, since they are the
primary people running the community and would be the ones involved in the watch.

Conclusion
Through our research as a group, it was found that Oxford Watch would be a feasible and
necessary program to add to the community of Oxford. On average, communities show a 16%
decrease in crime in areas where neighborhood watches are present (Wihbey). This statistic alone
shows that the Neighborhood Watch would add a factor of safety to the community that was not
present before. Since the program is made up of volunteers a central budget is not necessary and
therefore it is an easy program to run. This would also help the community stay involved with
each other because they are working together for the benefit of Oxford as a whole. The Oxford
Watch would serve to provide a safer environment in Oxford, as well as closer community
relationships overall.

Works Cited
Neighborhood Watch. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2016, from v
http://www.ncpc.org/topics/home-and-neighborhood-safety/neighborhood-watch
Oxford, OH Crime. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2016, from http://www.areavibes.com/oxfordoh/crime/
Wihbey, John. "U.S. Justice Department: Does Neighborhood Watch Reduce Crime? Journalist's Resource." Journalists Resource. N.p., 05 May 2015. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Appendices
Survey link:

https://docs.google.com/a/miamioh.edu/forms/d/1Qjc5Ha6PFqxNIIJ2Vdz539fg8iaQ38DpoayFFwoaZTI/
edit?usp=drive_web