By John McNamara http://nbpoliticus.com
City officials and residents focused on forming neighborhood watches at a September 3rd joint meeting of Neighborhood Revitalization Zone (NRZ) committees organized by leaders of the East Side and North Oak NRZs.
Mayor Bobby Sanchez and Police Chief Matthew Marino fielded questions on traffic safety, homelessness, the use of red light/speed cameras and improving police-community relations. Mayor Sanchez has been holding a series of meetings in each ward during his first year in office and the joint meeting reflected concerns voiced at earlier meetings.
Introduced was a “Start-Up Guide” for residents to partner with police in “to improve communication, awareness, and neighborhood safety” at a meeting attended by approximately 50 individuals at the New Britain Senior Center.
New Britain NRZs include East Side, North Oak and Arch Street areas. A fourth zone in the Broad/Oak Street area was also established but is currently inactive. Unlike designated zones for neighborhood revitalization, neighborhood watches can be organized in any part of the city.
The Start-up Guide says neighbors should establish a volunteer leadership structure to include a neighborhood watch coordinator and one or more block captains for designated streets.
Once formed the leaders and watch group members can share safety information from NBPD and identify their neighborhood concerns to inform police about ongoing issues. A liaison from the NBPD will be assigned to provide guidance and support to each group.
To encourage neighborhood watch organizing, the NBPD and the city’s Neighborhood and Community Development department promise basic training on situational awareness and personal safety, reporting suspicious or unusual activity, understanding when and how to use emergency and non-emergency services. The training will reinforce that neighborhood watch members “observe and report —they do not investigate, confront or enforce.”
NRZs, established as a local option for cities and towns in the 1990s, are made up of residents and officials who engage in “a collaborative process for federal, state and local governments to revitalize neighborhoods where there is a significant number of deteriorated property and property that has been foreclosed, is abandoned, blighted or substandard or poses a hazard to public safety.”
Neighborhood or block watches are less formal than the state-sanctioned NRZs with a focus on public safety. They are usually organized on one or more streets in a neighborhood where residents want to establish one. In years past city officials and police officers would visit a network of neighborhood block watches throughout the city on National Night Out to promote neighborhood partnerships with law enforcement in the community. National Night Out is a campaign begun in the 1990s that has spread to all 50 states “that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our safer, more caring places to live.” In recent years a single, citywide National Night Out has been held in New Britain on the first Tuesday in August. The 2026 National Night Out was held at Osgood Park on August 4th.
To learn more residents interested in forming a neighborhood watch should call the New Britain Police Department at 860-826-3000, Margaret Malinowski at the city’s Community Development department at (860) 826-3341 or one of their ward alderpersons representing them on the Common Council.
John McNamara is a Ward 4 Alderman and the Common Council Majority Leader. 860-416-0665 or john.mcnamara@newbritainct.gov
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