When you get mad, you do something about — or at least that’s Mike Thompson’s philosophy when it comes to his Neighborhood Watch program.

"When I moved up from Duluth last August, there were two incidents in the neighborhood, one where someone’s nice TV was stolen. I got so ticked off I said I would do something about it," Thompson said. He and several others in the Paradise Point neighborhood of Flowery Branch started building the watch program in February and now have about 70 members.

"What’s made it successful is we agreed this isn’t for people to tattle on neighbors who need to repair their roofs or mow their yards. This is a focus on security, safety and making the neighborhood friendly," he said.

Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic realized the value of having thousands of eyes working on behalf of the sheriff’s department, he said.

Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Wilbanks is the coordinator of neighborhood watch associations and will present programs at local libraries this month for residents to start their own.

"The community is often our eyes and ears of different crimes going on, and it’s very important for neighbors to look into their neighborhoods," said sheriff’s Col. Jeff Strickland. "We’ve had residents call in suspicious behavior and even apprehend people. It’s very successful and in a large number of subdivisions. We have 60 neighborhoods signed up right now."

The Paradise Point group started with six people, hosted 35 at the first meeting about two months ago and now includes almost half the neighborhood.

"To inspire us to action at the first meeting, I started saying ‘let’s have a picnic,’" Thompson said. About 120 neighbors showed up, including Cronic, four deputies and several fire services members.

"They came out in force with an EMT and a fire engine, and we fed them all," he said. "I heard from several people who have lived here for six or seven years that they only knew two neighbors and now know nine."

Wilbanks also coordinates a business watch program and is developing a kids watch program to include children as a part of neighborhood protection. Programs like these remain popular and effective in the nation, said Robbi Woodson, watch program manager for the National Sheriffs’ Association.

"Several studies show that watch associations help to reduce crime and demonstrate positive effects," she said. "There are 25,000 programs in the country with 3,800 law enforcement agencies."

The program is modeled after the idea of colonial night watchmen patrolling settlements and became a national program in 1972.

"If it wasn’t successful, we wouldn’t have been doing it this long or taken it to a national level," Woodson said. "Military groups in Iraq and Afghanistan use the same concepts, and 12 countries outside of the U.S. have similar programs."

Neighborhood programs may be hard to regulate on a national level, however.

"The idea is for people to make it their own," she said. "So, unfortunately, if a group is not properly formed, there’s no way for us to record if it’s still running. Just because there’s a sign up in the neighborhood doesn’t mean you have one or that there’s a high crime rate in your community."

The idea is to get neighbors connected, she said.

"You really don’t get to know your neighbors these days, and it’s helped us to connect with each other," said Marion Hunter, a resident of Paradise Point and librarian for the Gainesville branch. Hunter and Wilbanks organized the library sessions to be held later this summer. The program teaches participants how to recognize suspicious activities, persons and vehicles and how to report the details to police.

"Wilbanks has a very comprehensive program to set up the watch, gives safety tips and has a great follow-up program with the community," she said. "It allows you to get to know your neighbors, their habits and feel more comfortable about asking them to keep an eye on your property."