Carlsbad — The Carlsbad Police Department announced plans to revive its neighborhood watch program and expand property-safety services at the Community Police Engagement Commission meeting on Oct. 28.

Miriam Rayyan, crime intelligence analyst and the department’s new crime prevention specialist, said the program will emphasize rebuilding neighborhood watch groups, offering Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) assessments for homes and businesses and increasing community education and events. “What is crime prevention? It’s basically reducing the opportunities for crime,” Rayyan said.

Rayyan said the department will conduct CPTED site assessments to advise residents and business owners on landscaping, lighting, cameras and locks. Residents can request an assessment by emailing crimeprevention@carlsbadca.gov; the address will route requests to Rayyan and department staff, she said. The department has completed one assessment and had another scheduled, and Rayyan said the team has received two requests so far.

The program will lean on a volunteer network while it scales. Ray Pearson, a volunteer with the department, is currently helping assemble a citywide list of existing neighborhood watch block captains and contact information, Rayyan said. The department is distributing informational flyers on vehicle burglaries, scams, residential burglaries and retail theft at libraries and the senior center and online at the police web pages.

Commissioners pressed for context about why the program lapsed; staff said the duties shifted to other positions over the past decade as social media and public information work expanded. “When that employee retired, detectives and others picked up the work, which was unsustainable,” a department presenter said. Storying the program under the crime analyst unit, Rayyan said, restores a single point of contact for neighborhood groups.

Rayyan emphasized that the program is small at present. “Right now it’s only a team of one. So I’ll do the best that I can if we get a lot of requests,” she said.

The commission encouraged outreach to homeowners’ associations and suggested commissioners help spread the word to neighborhoods in their districts.

More information and the department’s crime-prevention flyers are available on the Carlsbad Police Department web page.