Neighborhood Watch is an important tool families can use to protect their neighborhood against burglars and other criminal intruders. Our Neighborhood Watch is simply a number of neighbors joining together to keep an eye open for suspicious persons and activities. Ideally, families should get acquainted with their neighbors across the street, on both sides and to the rear. They should learn each other's living patterns-things such as when family members are usually home, which members go to which schools and when a family will be leaving to go on a trip or on a vacation. Then neighbors can work together with the Neighborhood Watch to protect their homes through vigilance. For example, those persons who are home during the day know that something may be wrong if they see people around a home when family members are usually absent. Or if one family will be gone on business or for a weekend, they can ask one of the others to pick up their newspapers and their mail and to give their house a lived-in appearance. By cooperation in the area of security, neighbors have a no-cost device to help protect their homes and property from criminals. At the first sign of anything out of the ordinary, the police should be called. Some common situations that could mean trouble include: