This is a guest post written by Carmella Borkholder.

When I moved to my neighborhood over a year ago I was impressed with how everyone welcomed me. Within the first two weeks I was invited to a neighborhood watch meeting and I knew I had to attend. At the meeting everyone offered up new suggestions to keep the neighborhood safe. One of the suggestions included having a Gilbert first alert alarm installed. I did this soon after, which gives me added comfort when I’m home alone. Since that first meeting I would say that my neighborhood watch has been very effective. Meetings are held once a week and any new activity is reported. Neighbors report any suspicious vehicles parked for long periods of time to each of the members so everyone can keep their eyes open. Weekly night watches are done by some of the more courageous members and signs are posted in almost every lawn stating that we are an active community watch committee. I feel much safer knowing that there are people monitoring the neighborhood. My family and I have been practicing ways to be safe that include locking the doors at night, keeping one light on downstairs to give the impression someone is awake. We also try to collect books like the yellow and white pages up from in front of the door. I have never felt this safe in any neighborhood.