Residents fight crime with Neighborhood Watch program

City of Imperial residents said they’re tired of crime in their neighborhood and they’re not going to put up with it anymore.

Diana Salcedo said, “We’ve had a lot of burglaries and break-ins.”

Jorge Jimenez said, “My neighbor got his car robbed. I had to put cameras in my house because there was a lot of people opening garages.”

Maria Hill said, “Vandalizing my husband’s truck, did violate my trust.”

They are fighting back with a Neighborhood Watch program – signs going up this week. City of Imperial Police bought the signs, and ACME company will put them up for free.

“We have the neighborhood watch Facebook account. Once somebody sees something they immediately post it on Facebook. At which time, one of us will call the imperial police department and will continue talking on Facebook what’s going on with updates,” Salcedo said.

ACME company owner Jeff Guy said, “A lot of people live in this neighborhood, some of my employees live in this neighborhood, I live in this neighborhood, and I think it’s important we all get together.”

These residents want to send a clear message to anyone who might trespass their homes.

“It tells everyone that drives by that drives through our neighborhoods that we are watching – watching out for each other – and we will not hesitate to call Imperial Police,” Hill said.

“We are a tight-knit community and we’re not going to let the criminals win,” Salcedo said.

Hill said she can laugh about it but she means business when it comes to her community’s safety.

“We are watching you!” Hill said.