"Do we have the right to use whatever means to protect our property or only our life?"

It was tough questions like these that were addressed during Meridian's Neighborhood Watch meeting. After a string of burglaries and break-ins a group of concerned citizens decided to take action. They initiated a relationship with community policing to begin their own crime prevention.

"But we want to foster that relationship with everybody to make it feel comfortable for number one you are doing the right thing by sharing that information and we're going to act on it," said Michael Johnson, part of the community policing.

The focuses behind Neighborhood Watch are observation and awareness. Meridian citizens are taking this step of identifying and reporting suspicious activity to protect each other.

The neighborhood watch does require commitment from citizens. They say at this point they're willing to, because their safety feels threatened.

The decision to pursue the Neighborhood Watch came after burglaries started to become, almost common. Citizens said they realized that it would take some volunteering to reestablish the control they once had over their own community. They told us that no matter what type of an issue they may be having, they want communications improved.

"Sometimes you may have a problem that is not police oriented. It could be a public works problem or some other problem that we can help get that information relayed that needs to be to help with the problems," explained Johnson.

For the concerned citizens, it first was an issue of their property. But with the frequency of the break-ins, they say they fear for their own safety.