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LAS CRUCES - It's late. Two teenagers in a white car pull up to another group in a black car. They exchange unprintable words. One starts to drive off, when the driver of the white car takes out a shotgun and pulls the trigger.
Or, it's the holidays. Your neighbor is out of town. You see a shady character looking in his window, then hear a loud bang like the door's just been forced in. You run outside just in time to snap a cell phone photo of the young man's idling car as he darts out of your neighbor's house.
Thanks to vigilant neighbors, Las Cruces police were able to identify those involved in these two incidents.
Manny Ayala, who's lived on the 1900 block of Klein Avenue for 28 years, near where the drive-by happened just a month ago, wants to take it one step further. He wants to start a Neighborhood Watch committee - and he wants to see other neighborhoods do the same.
"All the neighborhoods, they've got to pull together and beat this crime," said Ayala, a former Department of Corrections employee who retired in 2006. "You know, some of these kids need to be behind bars. They don't need to be on the street ... There's a lot of issues. It's not just gang bangers, it's people who will come and destroy houses just for the hell of it. I'd like to get the public involved in it."
Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 9, 1,914 auto and home burglaries were reported within city limits, compared to 1,885 during the same time frame last year, according to Las Cruces Police
Outside city limits, the Do-a Ana Sheriff's Office offers similar help so that neighborhoods can start up their own patrols. Sgt. Joe Reynaud said citizens who witnessed sketchy and illegal activity helped the Do-a Ana Sheriff's Office charge 12 people connected to burglaries committed in November in Chaparral, Mesilla Park, Radium Springs and the East Mesa.
"It's every citizen's duty to get involved and not be afraid to come forward," Reynaud said. "I've had little old ladies come forward and very strong, very capable men afraid to say anything. Everyone's out to protect themselves and their own interests, of course, but when burglaries are targeting your neighborhood, it's only a matter of time before your own house gets burglarized, when just a bit of information may have prevented that."
LCPD Officer Jose Rodriguez, the city's full-time Neighborhood Watch coordinator, said only about 2 or 3 percent of the city is covered by 15-20 such groups, which typically need about 20 or 25 residents on board.
"It's more than contacting the police department, getting a couple signs put up," he said. "They have to do sort of a patrol for their area. Just them walking their dogs, doing a little yard work, as long as they're watching what's going on, that's their patrol."
Rodriguez teaches people how to protect themselves at home, how to be less of a target for a burglary - for instance, by locking their doors and windows and not letting entrances be hidden from the street - and what kind of targets a criminal will look for.
The holidays, he said, are always a peak time for such crimes.
"Citizens want to protect themselves and that's why they decide to start a Neighborhood Watch group," he said. "You need people with different schedules to watch. We educate them that when they see something (suspicious), they need to contact us immediately and get us as much information on the persons or vehicles they see. They're the eyes and the ears for the police department in their neighborhood."
Forming a neighborhood group does help, Rodriguez said, noting that auto burglaries drop in watched neighborhoods. Even better, forming a group helps neighbors meet each other, learn the routines of the neighborhoods and protect houses during vacations and other absences. And, he urged, "don't be afraid of any type of retaliation."
Ayala certainly isn't - he just needs help.
"The college students who live across the street, their cars got broken into," he said. "The one on the corner, which is Bellamah, they broke into hers. We found footprints all over my wife's PT Cruiser. They stole pills out of my truck. My neighbor's house, they took his bike. It's getting worse."
Because Ayala takes care of an aging relative on a daily basis, he can't watch everything, or get everyone to install motion-sensitive lights or spring to the window when their dogs are barking at night, he said.
"I can't do it myself," he admitted. "You need other people. You've got to join together, have neighborhood meetings, whether it's a block or two blocks. Get to know who lives in your neighborhood ... To heck with the retaliation. You get your neighbors together? We can fight this crime."
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.
Want to start a Neighborhood Watch where you live?
•Within city limits, contact Las Cruces Police Department Officer Jose Rodriguez at (575) 528-4200.
•Outside city limits, contact Do-a Ana Sheriff's Office Deputy Michelle Ugalde at (575) 525-1911.
