The Lane County Neighborhood Watch is affiliated with the Sheriff's department, and is structured to best allow citizens to help respond to emergencies when they occur.

The phone number of the volunteer coordinator for the NW is 682-4178. If you live in the county and do not have a city-sponsored neighborhood program, you may want to plug into your local watch group.

For more information regarding the NW programs in Lane:

Lane County Sheriff's Office 682-4178
Eugene Public Safety 682-5137
Springfield Police 726-3731
Cottage Grove Police Dpt. 942-9145
Junction City Police 998-1245
Florence Police 1-541-997-3515
Oakridge Police 1-541-782-4232

While Neighborhood Watch programs are traditionally oriented to allow citizens to help reduce crime in their communities, they are also the places to expect efficient coordination of emergency services to arise out of. The Watch patrols are familiar with the community; they have CB radios and communicate; they typically know the vulnerable people in an area, and they know the response capacity of an area - the doctors, the fire stations, etc.

If you are a member of NW, or join it, let your group's executive board know of your interest in Y2k, and your willingness to participate in a focus on emergency services should there be an interruption in power, communications or a local emergency with a toxic spill that necessitates evacuation.

-- Cynthia Beal (cabeal@efn.org), January 03, 1999