Do we need a Neighborhood Watch?

The movie Neighborhood Watch is coming out while the details of the Trayvon Martin case are still fresh in everyone's mind. It seems like everyone is determined to use the release of this movie as a way of questioning neighborhood watch programs. Too bad for the producers of the movie, but they truly chose the worst time possible to release it. Waiting a couple of weeks would have been a much better option, unless they hoped getting more attention through this controversial debate.

Are neighborhood watches necessary? Even if a neighborhood watch is inefficient, it gives peace of mind to the people involved and to other members of the community. If people are ready to join a neighborhood watch, they are concerned enough about their safety to need this kind of protection mechanism.

Things are different if a neighborhood watch is active and efficient. Should citizens take justice in their own hands? Police officers go through an intensive training program before joining the force: can citizens be expected to perform similar tasks without following a more comprehensive training program? Let's suppose that every neighborhood watch member is capable of making good judgments all the time: this activity is still too dangerous. Individuals who decide to take justice in their own hands without being properly trained to deal with sometimes violent conflicts are putting themselves in danger.

Neighborhood watch members are supposed to contact the police if they notice anything suspicious and to let trained officers deal with the situation, but as Zimmerman's behaviorshows, this is not what is happening.