Forest Glade residents calling for more neighbourhood watch involvement

Residents are pushing for more neighbourhood watches in the Forest Glade area after an increase in crime.

Five people were injured after getting shot outside a bowling alley on April 9. In a separate incident on Dec. 29, 2021, a 23-year-old man died after getting shot multiple times inside a vehicle in the area of Forest Glade Drive and Wildwood Drive.

Community activist Greg Lemay and past Crime Stoppers president Lina Busico are renewing the call for a proper neighbourhood watch.

“The past two years I have been receiving regular calls from citizens in Forest Glade concerned about their safety, their children’s safety, from speeding cars, to failing to stop at stop signs to violence in the park,” says Lemay.

He says residents can provide additional assistance to police.

"I want to thank the Windsor Police Service for the hard work that they're doing in our community, but they cannot be everywhere. That's why we're calling on the community to be the eyes and ears," says Lemay.

Busico feels that a stronger neighbourhood watch program in Forest Glade might have been able to assist police with their investigations.

They are looking for more block captains and say they are committed to working with the Safety Village moving forward.

Windsor’s neighbourhood watch programs are run through the Safety Village. Executive director of the Safety Village Melissa Lauzon says there are eight active neighbourhood watch groups in Forest Glade.

“These community groups, it’s fantastic they are coming together. They are looking out for their neighbours, which is actually the premise of the program. We always encourage these groups to connect with us,” says Lauzon.

In light of the shooting at the east-end bowling alley on Saturday, Minister @marcomendicino and I met with @WindsorPolice, @CStoppers, and Neighbourhood Watch @Safety_Village in Forest Glade today. pic.twitter.com/CWDE3QLjKM

— Irek Kusmierczyk (@Irek_K) April 11, 2022

There are 216 neighbourhood watch programs across the city.

“We could definitely improve and have some more watches in the area,” says Lauzon.

Lemay says they have already collected about 80 names of people in the area interested in helping with reporting or being block captains.

With files from CTV Windsor's Melanie Borrelli.

Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk met with Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, Windsor police, CrimeStoppers and neighbourhood watch representatives at the Safety Village in Windsor, Ont., on Monday, April 11, 2022. (Irek Kusmierczyk / Twitter)