HOULTON – With a $500 grant from Wal-Mart in hand, the Houlton Police Department will begin pursuing the startup phase of its neighborhood watch program, Chief Daniel Soucy said Thursday.

The grant, accepted by the Town Council at Monday’s meeting, will allow the Police Department to purchase preliminary equipment and schedule public information meetings to get the program started.

“Houlton has never had a neighborhood watch program before,” Soucy said. “So we are going to buy signs and decals for the neighborhoods and also purchase participant manuals that we will be handing out at public meetings to all those interested in participating in the neighborhood watch program.”

Soucy hopes to schedule public meetings in early March.

“These meetings will focus on giving an overview of the program to the public,” Soucy said. “Though it is a great town, Houlton does have a high crime problem. The police and the community can now work together to bring it under control.”

Those interested in participating in the neighborhood watch program will be invited to attend the meeting.

“Hopefully we can get several people from each neighborhood in town to attend so that we can get a formal discussion going on how neighbors can work together with police to prevent problems,” Soucy said.

March, April and May will be used as training months to help get the program started in early summer, which Soucy thinks will be the best time to implement the initiative.

“The summer is always a busy time, and people are more mobile then,” he said. “The days are longer, people are out more, and it doesn’t get dark so early. Neighbors see more things happening in the summer.”

Once the Police Department institutes the program, it doesn’t just step away, Soucy said.

“This will be a continuing partnership between the Police Department and the citizens of Houlton,” the police chief said. “And when people think of neighborhood watch, they might think of crimes such as looking out for burglars. But this goes beyond that. Neighborhood watch means keeping an eye out for everything, such as speeding vehicles and bicycle problems.”

Along with the grant, the Houlton Police Department will match the funds with in-kind donations of time and services.

“I am hoping that officers who are interested in the program will adopt a neighborhood to look out for, or that the neighborhood will adopt an officer,” Soucy said. “That makes the partnership even stronger.”

At the recent Town Council meeting, Soucy announced that areas in and around Community Park in Houlton would be the first area targeted for neighborhood watch.

“Community Park is a real prize in this town, but it has been vandalized on many occasions,” he said. “I think a program like this will curb that significantly.”

Though some neighborhood watch programs have night shifts with participants walking the streets, Soucy does not see that happening in Houlton.

“By instituting this program the way we are, we are being proactive and not reactive,” he said. “And once we get this program off the ground, I am confident that it will be a big success.”