§ 21-2. Legislative findings.

(a) In general.

The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore finds and declares that the threat, fear, and intimidation caused by the criminal element is one of the most compelling problems facing society today. Crime isolates people in their own homes, causing them to become suspicious of, and in some cases afraid of, their neighbors. And yet, law enforcement officials tell us that neighborhoods with little inter-residential communication are more vulnerable to crime than are those in which neighbors communicate and cooperate with each other on a regular basis.

(b) New program.

A new kind of anti-crime program starting to take hold in neighborhoods around the City seeks to promote communication and cooperation among neighbors as an effective countermeasure to crime. This subtitle sets up a program to install signs in those neighborhoods where a Neighborhood Block Watch Program is in effect.

(c) Liberal construction.

This subtitle should be liberally interpreted to achieve its anti-crime goals.