“People don’t realize how easy it is to do this,” Deette Bennett said of her crime watch efforts. If she sees something funny going on in her east side neighborhood, she calls it in. She stays informed by going to the East District Task Force meetings whenever possible. She knows her neighbors, and they know her.
She’s been doing it since the first Crime Watch groups were formed in Indianapolis, and at 93, she’s still doing it in her Community Heights neighborhood. With the help of her daughter Deette Schmidt, Bennett stays active and engaged — so much so that she was named a Crimefighter of the Year earlier this summer. She was one of six given the honor on National Night Out. An east side resident since 1949, Bennett’s husband was a police officer. She knew the difference an active, involved resident could make in the community. “My father always said, ‘If you belong, you must participate.’” she said. “I think that is very true.”
She helped organize the first Crime Watch on her street back when the program started. She lead by example over the years, making sure she had all her neighbor’s phone numbers, and they had hers. Some of the phone calls were puzzling, however.
“I get phone calls, ‘oh, Deette, call it in for me’ and I tell them they should call them in themselves. It’s easy — just call. It surprises me how many people hesitate to get involved.”
Schmidt noted that her mother has become the “go-to gal” in the neighborhood — perhaps because of her old-fashioned common sense and experience.
Bennett noted that working with the police through Crime Watch is much easier than people think. “Pick up the phone if there’s something going on. They are very easy to work with. They want to help.”
She plans on continuing to be involved in Crime Watch as long as possible. “It’s a thank-you to the city, a way of helping,” said Schmidt of her mother. “She does it because she cares.”
