Take Back the Night and Operation
Neighborhood Watch are existing programs promoted by law enforcement and
community groups across America. But in
Morris, these programs have not been instituted, except that a student group at
UMM has begun to hold annual Take Back the Night events. Take Back the Night (TBTN) is a program
designed as an annual women-organized event to publicly express women's
determination to struggle against the sexism and violence that plague our
communities and circumscribe our lives.
The slogan ‘Take Back the Night’ was first used in the United States as a theme for a 1979 national protest march down San Francisco's pornography strip. The march took place at night and was in the spirit of many similar events taking place all over the world. The first goal of this effort is to establish a TBTN event in the Morris community, working with the local police and sheriff’s department. The first TBTN will be scheduled for the fall of 2005, with annual events thereafter.
Secondly, this outreach element will work toward crime reduction through establishment of the Neighborhood Watch program in Morris. Neighborhood Watch is a community crime-fighting tool based on the fact that the best deterrent to crime is the watchfulness of one’s neighbors.Again working with local law enforcement, UMM students -- 50% of who live off-campus and thus are often victims of neighborhood crime – will establish neighborhood crime watch committees. These committees will include residents of Morris as well, and so will provide forums for bridging naturally occurring tensions between city residents and students.