Hello and welcome to SoSo Town Watch!  Thank you for joining your neighbors to promote a safer community.  We have both patrolling and non-patrolling members - below you will find basic orientation information for both.
 
The following are some things you will need to know as a patrolling member:

  • The patrol calendar can be found at sosotownwatch.com/cal.  Walks last 1 hour and are done preferably in groups of 3.  The schedule may vary from month to month.
  • You must first register for a login name.  Once that is approved, you can log into the calendar at any time and sign up for shifts.
  • The starting point for each patrol is on the corner of 22nd and Christian, in front of Sidecar Bar.  Please wait about 5-10 minutes for all members to arrive.  If one member does not show, feel free to walk in a pair.  If two members do not show up, that patrol is cancelled.  We ask that you PLEASE DO NOT WALK ALONE!
  • We patrol from Grays Ferry to 19th and Bainbridge to Kimball….take any route you would like.  You can finish the hour at any location.  Typically, if 2 of the patrollers live near each other, they will walk the 3rd person home, etc…
  • Feel free to bring your dog!
  • Wear your town watch vest/t-shirt/jacket on each walk.  We will try to get every member a “uniform”.  Please e-mail info@sosotownwatch.com with your t-shirt size if you do not have one.
  • We encourage you to bring the following: cell phone, notepad, flashlight (if dark), recruitment flyers (found on the web site), reporting forms (found on the web site), complaint phone numbers (found on web site)
  • Keep your eye out for anything unsafe and/or out of the ordinary i.e. debris blocking sidewalk, large potholes, street light out, improperly boarded up homes, abandoned homes/cars, overgrown lots, graffiti, etc.
  • Most of our reporting is done via the License and Inspections site on www.phila.gov If you are not comfortable navigating the site and do not want to do your own reporting, your complaints can be e-mailed to info@sosotownwatch.com The nice thing about doing your own reporting is that you typically get a follow-up phone call from the city and can follow the progress of your complaint.  Do not hesitate to report the same problem multiple times or to have multiple people report the same problem….it often takes multiple attempts and complaints to get changes made!
  • Complaints that cannot be reported on the L&I site, can usually be reported to the city via a phone call….the complete list of numbers can be found on our web site www.sosotownwatch.com  
  • Please try and engage everyone you see during your walk, even if it is a smile or a wave.  Feel free to stop and chat, introduce yourself, ask for suggestions, recruit new members, etc.  You can direct anyone to our website at www.sosotownwatch.com  if they are interested in learning more.
  • If you ever see a crime in action, remove yourself from the situation and immediately call 911.  Tell them you are with town watch and report all the details of the crime. The more descriptive you are the better.  Never intervene!  Never put yourself or the group in danger!  We are not police officers and do not pretend to be so!  The 17th district has our schedule and knows when we are walking.

 

The following are some things you will need to know as a non-patrolling member:

  • Our non-patrolling members are the “eyes and ears” of the community.  Whether walking home from work, walking the dog, or sitting on your front step….as a member of town watch you will be much more aware of your neighborhood 
  • Familiarize yourself with the city complaint numbers listed on our website and with the L&I site. 
  • Feel free to file/call complaints at any time.  
  • The 17th district can also be called for any non-urgent issues that you feel would best be handled by the police.  Also, if you have filed multiple complaints on a particular property or area and have received no response from the city, you can then call the 17th district and talk with Officer Gibson, our community liaison.  The number for the 17th district is 215-686-3170 (also found on the web site)

Thank you so much for your time and energy.  Together we can make this community a wonderful place to live and work!