WEST COVINA, Calif. – West Covina residents started their own neighborhood watch group and formed a network of hundreds of people who are the eyes and ears of the community.

Sue Augino and Glenn Kennedy started West Covina Residents Take Our Neighborhood Back two years ago on Facebook, following frustrations from the rising homelessness population. Homeless encampments continued to pop up around town and residents complained public spaces weren’t as safe as they once were.

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Now the group responds to dozens of calls a day from residents who see something around town and work with local officials to address the problem.

“It started with two people, me and Sue, and we’ve grown to 1,600,” Kennedy said.

They help find resources for people living in the parks. But they have started to help with all kinds of concerns, like when an out-of-town-daughter called and asked for someone to help her widowed mother turn off her sprinklers.

“So we went over there and contacted her mom and we turned her sprinklers off,” Augino said. “Then we called her back and said everything is good and everything is fine. And it works that way.”

They have receive a lot of calls about encampments along the freeway onramp. People said they saw fires burning and were concerned about a possible wildfire. They called Cal Trans and had the area cleared. The group take pride in building a network of residents who will see something and say something.

“They take the pictures, they document it, they call the agency that is going to call and help them out with their problems,” Augino said. “So just the empowerment of the whole city is just a good strength and it started out with us, now it’s city wide, and we have nowhere to go but up from here.”

They are committed to keeping their boots on the ground, and watching over their community.