History

Youth Crime Watch was created in 1979 as an outgrowth of Citizen's Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Both programs were a direct result of an outraged neighborhood coming together against injustice following the rape of a 12 year old girl on Halloween night.

The successful pilot Youth Crime Watch program was located in North Miami Beach Senior High School, where it had a lot of success. In the first year of the program's implementation, students helped to reduce their school's drug problem by more than half by pinpointing drug pushers. In addition, chain snatchings, a prevalent problem at the time, were decreased by three quarters. Equally important was the change in the students' attitudes. They were learning they could make a positive difference. Students were reporting crime, saw positive results and enjoyed significantly improved morale and school spirit.

Youth Crime Watch went national in 1986 with the establishment of Youth Crime Watch of America, Inc. (YCWA), a nonprofit organization to support and continue the success of Youth Crime Watch by helping to spread it throughout the state of Florida and across the nation.

Youth Crime Watch of America is helping new charter organizations form across the US and around the world. For example, in 1999 Jovens Contra O Crime (Youth Against Crime) was formed in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil!

Youth Crime Watch of America has earned national recognition by Presidents Clinton, Bush and Reagan and was named as a U.S. Department of Education Exemplary Program of Excellence. The program is endorsed by the Office of the Florida Governor, the Florida State Legislature, the Florida Department of Education and numerous local agencies and corporations.

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