看绝望的主妇品美国文化：邻里联防
Neighborhood watch meeting：邻里守望会议，也称邻里联防会议，简称NWM。
所谓邻里联防会议就是：把所有的居民都组织起来，经聚会联系当地居民举行会议，分享和总结一些事实的经验和建议。比如最常发生的案件、发生什么案件、什么时候发生的，被盗被破坏的东西是什么。当地警察也会参加会议，给居民提供一些建议，像是如何保护自己的人身财产安全，遇到案件时应该如何做等。
在美国，加入Neighborhood watch联防小组，须提供身份证件、水电费账单、银行账单，以证明自己的住址是在当地地区。当地没有此小组的话可以自行成立一个小组，成立Neighborhood watch同样须提供身份证件、水电费账单、银行账单等。成立小组后周围邻居也可以加入。
以下是一段关于“邻里守望计划”的访谈式说明，阐述社区居民如何通过观察与报告异常行为，协助警方维护治安。该机制强调预防、信息共享与共同责任，而非居民直接介入执法。
Neighborhood watch is a national even an international voluntary organization 邻里守望是一项全国性的、甚至国际性的志愿组织
that works along with the police 它与警方协同合作
Naturally we’re making people more aware of security issues 自然，我们会提高人们对安全问题的意识
so they feel safer 让他们感到更加安全
In my own particular scheme 在我个人负责的项目中
We’ve set up a regular walking patrol 我们建立了定期步行巡逻
which is really based around dog walkers throughout every day 主要依托每天遛狗的人群来进行
and they look out for anything that is out of the ordinary 他们会留意任何异常情况
anything that might be suspicious 以及任何可疑的事物
and we have noticed some fans occasionally 我们有时也注意到一些“粉丝”
that we’ve reported to the police 并已将其报告给警方
and we’ve passed on useful information where there’s been an attempted robbery 在发生未遂抢劫时，我们也提供了有用情报
so that’s the sort of thing we we’re looking at for all the time 这就是我们一直在关注的事情
these days we, we don’t know our neighbors as well 如今，我们对邻居的了解
as people did once upon a time 已不如过去那样熟悉
the benefits have been part of the neighborhood watch scheme 邻里守望计划的好处之一是
enables a group of properties on a road to maintain their security 让同一条街上的房产能够共同维护安全
keeps an eye out for each other’s properties 彼此照看对方的房产
they are regularly updated with crime reports from their temporary police 他们会定期收到临时警务人员提供的犯罪通报
on any activity that could be going on in their area 关于其所在区域可能发生的任何活动
A neighborhood watch scheme helps the police 邻里守望计划有助于警方工作
by neighbors looking out after each other’s properties 通过邻居互相看护彼此的财产
reporting any suspicious activity whether it be vehicles or persons 举报任何可疑活动，无论是车辆还是人员
scouting miscounting area for targets and reporting it to the police 在区域内排查潜在目标并向警方报告
do not expect our participants of the neighborhood watching to tackle criminals 我们并不期望参与邻里守望的人去直接对抗罪犯
that is purely the job of the police 那完全是警方的职责
what we’d like from our members is to actually 我们希望成员做的是
just report activities that don’t seem out of place that don’t belong 只需报告那些看起来不正常、不属于该区域的活动
