Fishers Police Department has developed a Business Watch program in an effort to prevent crime in the community. Much like Crime Watch programs for neighborhoods, Business Watch joins business owners with the police department to actively watch for and report any suspicious activity before crime occurs.
Business Watch launched less than a month ago at the 96th Street business council meeting.
“We’ve been trying to implement this program for a long time and we haven’t gotten a lot of interest until recently,” said Sgt. Tom Weger. “With the 96th Street corridor initiative kicking off, we thought it would be a good time to launch our program.”
While the program got its start with business owners along the 96th Street corridor, it is open to all interested businesses in Fishers.
Weger explained that thefts from vehicles are an ongoing problem that prompted the launch of the program.
“We believe it’s absolutely preventable and we hope to help further educate the community and educate the businesses to help partner with us on this,” said Weger.
Participation is simple. The program is dependent upon communication between the businesses and police department.
“Communication is a two-way street,” said Weger. “We want to communicate with them and we want them to communicate with us.”
While the program is still in its infancy stage, Fishers Police Department hopes to greatly expand Business Watch in the months and years to come. Weger hopes to establish bi-annual meetings for the business community moving forward.
Businesses interested in joining Business Watch should contact Sgt. Tom Weger.