Ann Arbor removes last remaining Neighborhood Watch sign - drawing cheers, jeers

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FOX 2 - Neighborhood Watch signs began in Michigan back in the 1970s and 80s as a way to combat crime with a grassroots community effort.

The backstory:

In Ann Arbor those signs - numbering more than 600 - have been pulled down in city-wide effort to promote inclusivity.

The decision to remove them came at the direction of the city council, with the milestone of the last existing sign taken down at Princeton Avenue and S. Seventh Street on Wednesday,

Although the allotted budget for the undertaking was $18,000 approved by the council, the job was completed for $16,500 according to published reports.

Promoting a message of inclusion was a big factor in the decision to pull the signs down, said Mayor Christopher Taylor.

"Frankly, neighborhood watch signs are expressions of exclusion, and they're inconsistent with our values," Taylor said in a social media video. "Ann Arbor is a welcoming community. We don't want to push people away, we want to welcome folks in."

The video of the last sign's tear-down was posted on social media by the city of Ann Arbor's TikTok and Instagram accounts.

The racial element behind the signage, which in many cases led to profiling, can't be ignored, said Cynthia Harrison. Harrison is a council member for Ward 1, who is African-American.

"You know, there are people that look like me, and those from my community that have been questioned in their own neighborhood by others, wondering what they're doing here," she said. "This is just representative of our values and how we want people to feel in Ann Arbor."

The watch signs began to varying degrees as a community partnership with police departments. Some cities included block patrols and block captains in a hyperlocal anti-crime effort.

In recent years many of those active programs are inactive, rendering most signs as ornamental at best.

"They were not connected to any existing public safety program today," said Jen Eyer, council member Ward 4. "In fact, it has been defunct for decades. And it really harkens back to a time when public safety was about exclusion, was about monitoring and surveilling who belonged in a neighborhood and who did not.

"That is not how we do public safety today. We are a welcoming community, and we don't want our signage to message to people who are visiting, that they don't belong -- because they do."

The video has evoked passionate responses from both sides - with some promoting the inclusion effort as banishing an outdated and problematic practice to the dustbin of history.

"It's always been about profiling people," said a TikTok user account named Fancy. "Look at neighborhood groups on Facebook. It's the same thing."

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor, left, and Council Member Cynthia Harrison. Screenshot from City of Ann Arbor video.

Others have mocked the video, calling it a virtue signal divorced from reality.

"Literally thought this was a skit/parody," said a TikTock user account named CloudySkyAndRain.

Another section of the response pointed out the hypocrisy and suggested that the real concern is Flock cameras and police drones in the updated state of public safety overreach and targeting/profiling of citizens.

"There are literally surveillance drones and green strobe cameras in MI," posted a user named Beth. "That is what is unwelcoming. That, along with the infrastructure disrepair. You know what sounds like government overreach and disruption of community bonds and power? This."

Another commenter simply posted a photo of the city of Ann Arbor and a map of where Flock cameras are alleged to be located.

"Hey Ann Arbor, this you?' posted a user by the name of GenomeLabKid under a photo of Flock cameras around the city.

But officials say that the move isn't just symbolic but a tangible example of a more inclusive city.

"We do welcome everyone to the city of Ann Arbor but most importantly we want everyone to feel welcome," Harrison said. "The removal of these signs is a huge step in that direction."