TROY, Ala (TROJANVISION) — A series of safety concerns in communities in the Pike County area have residents wanting to take action.

Communities such as Enon, Monticello, Josie and Shiloh have seen an uptick in stolen property.

“Thefts out of people’s barns, yards, carports,” said Pike County Sheriff Rusell Thomas. “We are seeing more of that. Matter of fact, we’ve made three or four arrest in the last seven days for those type of cases.

Sheriff Thomas says his office has received several calls from concerned citizens.

“When you see crime go up in an area people become concerned and they don’t want to become a victim, and we don’t want them to be a victim,” Thomas said.

Now members of these communities are banding together in hopes of stopping crime via a neighborhood watch.

If you see something out of place or anything specious, please say something,” Thomas said. “We’ll put up the neighborhood watch signs on the roadways. It’s good when you have people you call like the neighborhood watch chairman person to notify all the other members of the neighborhood watch and they’re on the lookout. “

Official neighborhoods watch groups also have the benefit of being supported by law enforcement.

“We want to do what we can to help them and in return they will help us. We need the public to be our eyes and ears because we can’t do it alone,” Thomas said.

The Pike County Sheriff’s Office now holds 12 neighborhood watches throughout the county.

The neighborhood watch for the following communities will take place at Enon Baptist Church on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m.