Neighborhood watch group hopes to deter crime

Teenage boredom brought about a lot of mischief last year in Iowa City.

There were large group fights, robberies, and the shooting at this bar where one man was almost killed.

With schools in the area now out for the summer, one woman is leading the charge to stop potential troublemakers and take back her neighborhood.

“You hear the sirens at night but you know you can't concern yourself over everything,” said Donna Besgrove, organizer of a new neighborhood watch group.

Besgrove has lived at her tidy white home on Miami Drive for nearly a half century and says her neighborhood has changed.

"Oh, tremendously,” she said. “People don't get out to get acquainted as much as they used to.”

Besgrove is well-aware of this area's reputation for crime.

"I think it's erroneously labeled which is really too bad because you know we want to sell our homes,” explained Besgrove. “The value has gone down because of the label on this. I know I will have to take a cut because of that.”

Now, Besgrove is fighting back. By forming a neighborhood watch group she hopes neighbors will get to know each other and join together against crime.

”We all look out for each other,” said Besgrove. “We watch each other's homes.”

Iowa City Police say neighborhood watch groups like Besgrove's can help.

"It's basically a tool for citizens to get involved in their neighborhood to know what's happening in their neighborhood, to know what belongs in their neighborhood and what doesn't belong – or what's suspicious in their neighborhood,” explained Officer Jorey Bailey, Iowa City Police Department's crime prevention officer.

Besgrove's says the neighborhood watch group is working. She believes signs posted at both ends of streets will help deter crime and, in time, she is confident that her neighborhood will return to what it once was.

”I think it will come back,” she said. “Neighborhoods like all things – businesses and everything – they go down for a little while then they come back up and I think this will, too. It's just a nice place to live.”