NEWTON - Police are encouraging residents to mimic the initiative of a group of local parents who are creating a neighborhood watch program after learning a convicted sex offender was employed at a home-based shop on their street.

Alicia Raddatz, who lives on Overlook Drive, said she had been thinking about organizing a neighborhood watch program even before learning a sex offender would be on her street on a regular basis. She said she hopes the program will improve communication in the 20-home neighborhood, which will benefit the community in a variety of ways.

"We’re not trying to run anybody out of town; we’re not trying to hurt anyone’s business; we’re just trying to keep our neighborhood safe," said Raddatz. "It’s a positive reaction to something that was kind of a shock."

Raddatz and other residents of Overlook Drive plan to meet next week to discuss how they can do a better job looking out for one another. Police Chief Larry Streeter and David Grant, a Salem resident who started a program called Salem Safe Kids, will also attend to help the group get started.

Streeter said neighborhood watch programs open communication between locals and police, quell bad communication and dispel rumors that only drive fear, not education.

"I think it’s a great thing," said Streeter. "An informed community is a safer community, and it just adds to that.. ... Police aren’t any good without community involvement."

The neighborhood is made up of a variety of family types, from single twenty-somethings to elderly couples, according to Raddatz. She said improving communication with her neighbors will help them not only look out for their children but also lost pets and people who may need something or some service.

"It goes much beyond our children’s safety," she said. "I think if everyone knows each other better, we’ll look out for each other better."

Grant said Salem Safe Kids started after a series of attempted abductions on his street in Salem, starting with his 12-year-old son on Halloween night last year. The group started with a meeting of about four concerned parents in March and grew to about 60 parents by the next meeting after a little publicity. There are 150 Salem families receiving the monthly newsletter.

"The biggest thing is for parents to talk peer-to-peer," said Grant. "I have talked to more of my neighbors in the past four-and-a-half months than in the previous five-and-a-half years I’ve lived here."

Through meetings, various initiatives and their Web site, www.salemsafekids.org, the group has been able to open communication and educate the public, which Grant said is the most important function of the group. Safe Kids sends out information on credible news events, missing children alerts and child-safety tips via e-mail.

"The goal is to raise awareness, not become vigilantes," said Grant. "Educate, don’t scare."

One of the group’s initiatives was Reverse 911, which sends recorded messages instantly from the Police Department to the telephones of residents in the affected geographic block. The initiative was credited with the successful apprehension of a rape suspect on the loose in North Salem earlier this year, who had been identified by a resident.

Grant said the success of the program is a direct result of the participation by the entire community. Businesses have donated money and services; police attend each meeting; the schools help educate the children; the media gets the word out, and town departments provide the services they can.

"It’s great because as a community we have everyone pulling together," said Grant.

Streeter said he would like to see more programs in town like the one starting on Overlook Drive, which he said was the first he knows of in Newton. He said he has received phone calls from people in the community who are interested in creating a program for the town.

"It does a number of things to enhance the quality of life in a community," said Streeter. "(The police are) only as good as the information we receive and the help we get from the public."

Streeter said anyone interested in creating a neighborhood-watch program should gather neighbors and contact the police, who will be happy to help organize the group and be a resource. He said the group should have a specific focus that will help organization and execution of initiatives.

Raddatz has high hopes for the group and thinks it could be an example for other towns.

"Hopefully other people can see this as a positive thing that other communities can do as well," she said.