GBA has recently requested that the Northern District include businesses in the Community Block Watch Program currently in existence for residents, in which crime watch numbers are distributed to individuals who wish to remain anonymous. This request has been granted and we hope that many businesses will sign up.  The new forms for the Neighborhood Crime Watch Program were inserted in the last GBA Gazette.  Please don't recycle the form (unless you are already have a Crime Watch number)! This program allows anonymous contact, and will be more successful along the York Road commercial corridor if more businesses are involved. Please fill out the form and return it to the Northern District today.  If you did misplace it during the holiday rush, a copy of the form is posted here.

• What is a Crime Watch number?
  Crime Watch number, also known as a "Block Watch" number, is a unique, seven-digit number issued to you by the Baltimore Police Department. It is a confidential identification number that you give to the 9-1-1 Operator after dialing "9-1-1" if you do not want the officer responding to your call to come to your door. Once the Crime Watch number is entered into the 9-1-1 computer system your phone number and address, which normally are sent by the 9-1-1 system to the responding patrol car, are not sent so that the officer in the responding patrol car does not know who made the call.
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• Is the Crime Watch Number a special telephone number to call?
  No, it is not a telephone number. Think of it as a confidential membership number in the Operation Crime Watch program that you give to the 9-1-1 Operator after you dial "9-1-1".
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• If the officer in the patrol car does not know who made the call to "9-1-1", how will the officer know where to go?
  When you give your Crime Watch number after dialing "9-1-1", the 9-1-1 Operator will ask several questions, including the location of the incident about which you are calling. The 9-1-1 Operator will pass on information about the location of the incident to the patrol car, but will not pass on information about the location of the person calling "9-1-1". Thus, the officer will go to the location of the incident, not to the caller. Even if the incident is right in front of your house, the responding officer will not know if the call came from your house or the house of one of your neighbors.
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• What if I really need help and I want the officer to come to my door?
  If you need the officer to come to your door, do not use your Crime Watch number. Simply dial "9-1-1" as your normally would and answer the questions asked by the 9-1-1 Operator.
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• How do I get a Crime Watch Number?
  To get a Crime Watch number contact the Community Relations Unit at the Northern District at 410-367-8491. You should receive your number in the mail in about a week.
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