AHWATUKEE, AZ -- October is Crime Prevention Month.
One of the best ways to reduce the likelihood of crime in your neighborhood is through a Neighborhood Watch program.
In the community of Ahwatukee Foothills burglaries are down compared with last year by about 13 percent. It's down about 20 percent for the entire city of Phoenix.
It was a rash of burglaries in Ahwatukee Foothills that got Anne Dreier involved in trying to make her neighborhood safer.
"All of a sudden we got hit with crime, it was one thing after another ..something needed to be done," she said.
Although she is not part of an official Neighborhood Watch program, she decided to collect the names, email address, and phone numbers of about 50 neighbors.
She then shared that list with all her neighbors so anyone who saw something suspicious could contact the specific homeowner.
"I come from the midwest, we knew our neighbors. It's different here. People come home from work, close the garage door and go inside."
Another reason Dreier got involved, she often walks her dog through the neighborhood and unofficially kept an eye out for crime.
One of Dreier's neighbors, Chuck Oakley, used the list compiled by Dreier when a car was broken into near his home.
"I called some of the numbers on the list and told them what happened, and some of them said we noticed a suspicious car in the area at the time," Oakley said.
Peggy Schaffer, a member of the Ahwatukee Foothills Crime Prevention Task Force, says in many cases the burglaries are committed by people in the neighborhood.
She says they know their neighbor's work hours or even planned vacations, and take advantage of that opportunity.
If you are interested in setting up your own neighborhood watch program, contact your local police department.
