Flint, MI– The City of Flint is offering free crime watch training for block clubs and neighborhood groups in the city.
According to the city’s public safety update from Sept. 9, the city of Flint is partnering with the North Flint Neighborhood Action Council to offer this training to two block clubs in each ward.
The NFNAC will train these groups on how to start, re-establish and/or improve their Crime Watch program through multiple training sessions.
Two training sessions about Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design will be held on Sept. 13 and Sept. 15, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Willie Smith, vice president of NFNAC, talked about this training during the first public safety update on Aug. 9.
“We will take them through Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design training … to make the environment more productive for positive activity and not negative activity,” Smith said.
Other Crime Watch training exercises and lessons on spending and properly reporting grant funds will be held on Sept. 20 and Sept. 22 from 5-7:30 p.m. Participating groups will also be asked to attend a virtual program on Mental Health First Aid provided by Genesee Health Systems.
Neighborhood groups who complete the training can receive up to $1,500 in grant funding to be used for Crime Watch intervention tools.
According to the public safety update, funding for this program comes from a Resiliency in Communities after Stress and Trauma grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration out of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Offering crime watch grants to neighborhood groups was part of one of the six executive orders Mayor Sheldon Neeley announced when he declared a State of Emergency in the city due to gun violence on July 23.
The second executive order, which is to “Establish Partnerships with Grass Roots and Community Outreach Programs to Combat Gun Violence,” included that community crime watch grants should be established and available to neighborhood organizations.
The link to sign up for the program can be found here: NFNAC training registration. For questions or concerns, call (810) 219-9515 or email director@northflintnac.org.