Bill Chisham of the SWNW (2nd from left) is the 2009 recipient of the Elk of the Year Award from the Saratoga Wilton Elks Club.  One of the reasons Bob was chosen for the award was the exhaustive work he has done for the South West Neighborhood Association's Neighborhood Watch Program.  Also pictured left to right are Andy George (SWNW), Public Safety Commissioner Ron Kim, Chief Ed Moore and Lt. Bob Jillson.

In 2008, Patrol Division Lieutenant Robert Jillson and Sergeant Jason Tetu were designated responsibility to coordinate our department’s efforts in the community relations function.  Both have authority to delegate to different units, according to specialty, assignments to meet the public requests and complete the department’s mission in crime prevention and community relations.

One of the major developments to report for 2008 is the establishment of a new Neighborhood Watch program in the city.  Two Neighborhood Watch Groups have been formed; the South West Neighborhood Watch and the Stonequist Neighborhood Watch.  The South West Neighborhood Watch (SWNW) includes five neighborhoods with more than 1,500 homes represented, while the Stonequist program covers the entire adult high rise complex located at Stonequist Apartments high rise.  These watch groups are run entirely by citizens living in the community.  Lt. Jillson and Sgt. Tetu assisted the citizens in creating structured watch groups with establishing zones, leadership, lines of communication, and provided training to watch group members.  To date, more than one hundred fifty (150) persons have received training in Neighborhood Watch and crime prevention topics.

In an effort to expand the Neighborhood Watch program, Lt. Jillson and Sgt. Tetu have made contact with and attended meetings of an additional twelve civic/neighborhood groups, making presentations about the program as well as the services our agency has to offer their groups and how they can help the police department in maintaining our safe community.
Lt. Jillson and Sgt. Tetu also joined the New York State Crime Prevention Coalition to enhance the department’s networking ability in crime prevention. Both have attended training programs relative to their assignment, and recently hosted the state wide training program on crime prevention in our city in late March of 2009.