we do not know our local law enforcement officers personally
not many people personally know a police officer in their community. having a local officer doing patrol on one's neighborhood with or without the neighborhood watch team is a huge deterrent to crime. knowing that a police officer patrols a certain neighborhood will put fear and question in the motives of the thieves. also, it can improve the confidence of the neighborhood watch team and the community in that they know a police officer is in close proximity to be able to call for help when necessary.
i also believe that the local precincts and police stations should organize their officers more thoroughly so that instead of sitting all day at speed traps in a certain given area of the city, these officers can do what they are supposed to do and protect our communities by doing rounds of patrolling between neighborhoods they are assigned in order to get a feel of what neighborhoods need more patrolling and which are considered safe. this would strengthen citizen-police relationships in that the neighbors would learn about and get to know the officer that is watching over their residences.