Home » Press Releases » 2010 News Archive » Mayor Brown Announces Neighborhood Anti-Crime Effort

Mayor Brown Announces Neighborhood Anti-Crime Effort

New Keeping Neighborhoods on Watch (KNOW) Initiative Designed to Support Block Clubs and Residents in Monitoring and Reporting Suspicious Activity

BUFFALO – Mayor Byron W. Brown today announced the creation of a new, neighborhood-based anti-crime effort that will support city block clubs and residents in monitoring and reporting suspicious activity.

"The Keeping Neighborhoods On Watch (KNOW) Email Alert System is a tool for city to report suspicious or criminal activity in their neighborhoods directly to key city officials, including the me and senior management of the Buffalo Police Department, as well as members of their block club," said Mayor Brown.

The KNOW Alert System is not intended to take the place of 911 or 311 services, but to act as a source of information for concerned residents and block club members to alert each other and the City of Buffalo of patterns of suspicious or criminal activity in their neighborhood.

Residents should use the alert system when they witness criminal or suspicious activity that does not require urgent/ immediate police action such as:

• A pattern of stolen items or equipment in a specific neighborhood
• A pattern of vandalism in a specific community
• A pattern of suspicious or criminal activity by strangers in a given neighborhood (e.g., a non-neighborhood resident walking up driveways or into the backyards of private residences).

It is vital to still call the police and make a report of a crime that has taken place. The KNOW Alert is designed to heighten awareness of criminal activity that could affect them, as well as make the Mayor and police officials immediately aware of criminal or suspicious trends in city neighborhoods.

In turn, the compiled data and emails will be used by law enforcement to track trends, coordinate new patrol routes, and arrest the perpetrators of these crimes.

By using the KNOW Alert System residents will help shed light on suspicious and potentially criminal activity that harms the quality of life in Buffalo. Through this confidential system, they can safely help to deter potentially unlawful acts and help the police arrest those who prey on our communities.

Here's the KNOW system will work:

1. Go to http://www.city-buffalo.com/know
2. Select your block club or neighborhood association name
3. Enter your block club passcode
4. Fill out, in full detail, the description of the suspicious activity that you have seen
5. Please enter your email address to receive a copy of the KNOW alert.
6. Submit your KNOW alert
   • The block club's main contact person in our records will also receive a copy of the KNOW alert along with the Mayor and key Police Department officials.
   • You or the main contact person of the block club can forward the Know alert email you receive to members of your block club's distribution list.
   • You should encourage you block club members to keep adding information about the suspicious activity to better shape the profile.
   • Please use "Reply All" to assure that everyone on the distribution list and the key city officials get the additional information.
   • All KNOW alerts are hard coded to go to the proper city officials first. Users who add additional information to the original KNOW alert email should always "REPLY ALL" to ensure that city officials continue to receive updated information.
   • Once you receive your response KNOW alert email, forward the email to all members of your block club distribution list. * Be sure to remind them to "REPLY ALL"so that additional information is disseminated to the proper city officials.

This initiative will complement the various initiatives Mayor Brown has put in place over the years to deter crime, apprehend criminals and improve our residents' quality of life.

These programs include:

• Confidential Tip Call-In line: 847-2255
• Report a Tip Online Service (www.bpdny.org)
• Text-a-Tip
• Neighborhood Foot & Bicycle Patrols

"Because of the Buffalo Police Department's enforcement of my Zero Tolerance anti-crime agenda, overall crime has been reduced in the city by approximately 11% since January 2006 and violent crime has been reduced by 4% in the same period of time," said Mayor Brown. "Since the beginning of this year, overall crime is down 3% compared to the same time period in 2009."