Bibb sheriff’s office turns to dog walkers as ‘eyes and ears’

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is joining a national effort to make dog walkers part of a mobile neighborhood watch.

Judy Gordon, the neighborhood watch coordinator for the sheriff’s office, told the group of about a half-dozen dog owners gathered at the Macon Dog Park on Saturday that there was one major reason walkers could be an asset.

“You’re out all times of the day and night, and you see things throughout the neighborhoods,” Gordon said. “So we want you to feel comfortable in knowing you’re the eyes and the ears.”

Walkers who participate in the program will receive red “Walk and Watch” T-shirts as well as informational materials about crime reporting and prevention.

Each district has individual neighborhood watch programs organized, and the people who came to the meeting Saturday morning were from a variety of areas, from the area surrounding the Macon Mall on Eisenhower Parkway to Rivoli Road in north Macon.

Juliette Israel and Ann Garber, who regularly walk their dogs with friend Meg Howell in the Pierce Avenue area, attended the meeting to learn how to make use of their routine.

“We walk every single day,” said Israel, who has a Labrador retriever named Madison, a mixed breed named Johnson and a coon hound named Lucy.

She said that the group is consistently keeping an eye on the neighborhood, particularly homes that have recently come up for sale or have new occupants.

“We call ourselves detectives,” she joked.

The women noted that they hadn’t seen any suspicious activity, like potential car break-ins or home burglaries, but they do frequently notice littering. That was of particular concern to Garber, who walks Bella and Kassie, both mixed breeds.

“The litter drives me insane,” she said. “I’m about ready to get a grabber.”

Gordon said that even the littering was something that could be reported to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500, the agency’s non-emergency number. The Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission also has a litter hotline at 478-330-7053.

If a more serious offense is spotted, walkers are asked to call 911, but the dogs themselves can also play a role in prevention.

“Dogs are the best deterrent,” Gordon said. “Usually when a person is involved in a criminal act, they’re trying to break into your home, if they hear a dog barking, it can be a small dog or it can be a big dog, they’re usually going to leave that area.”

While Gordon made sure to outline how dog walkers were “very important to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office,” but she said that she didn’t want walkers to get involved in the investigative process beyond reporting what they see.

“Notice I didn’t say I want you to go out and arrest anyone,” Gordon said. “We just want you to report it.”

For more information about the program or other neighborhood watch initiatives, call Gordon at 478-751-2797 or 478-447-9763, or she can be reached by email at jgordon@maconbibb.us.

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Bibb sheriff’s office turns to dog walkers as ‘eyes and ears’."