Mount Sinai neighborhood watch launched

A new neighborhood watch has been established in Mount Sinai, local police representatives, officials and community members recently announced.

Laura Cash, an 11-year Mount Sinai resident who helped build support for the group, said it all started out of concerns for what she and a number of neighbors saw as growing crime problem in different parts of the community.

“We started realizing there was a drug problem on our block. We started finding syringes on our street, and I grew very concerned because I have two small children. There are a lot of children in the area.”

Cash started a blog and then a Facebook group, which she said really got residents engaged in conversations about the community.

Other Facebook offshoots were formed, and interest grew in creating an actual neighborhood watch.

That effort was launched by a team that included Ellie Marino and Phyllis Daley, co-captains of the new group, which worked with Sixth Precinct Community Oriented Police Enforcement officers and local elected officials, including Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner, to bring it all together.

The group was officially launched on Feb. 29.

Marino said about 40 people are signed up, and she is currently looking for team leaders for various sections of the community. The group’s first meeting will be held in the next few weeks, she said.

Photo: Community activists discusses the creation of a neighborhood watch, from left, Suffolk County Legis. Sarah S. Anker, residents Phyllis Daly and Ellie Marino, Suffolk County police officers Stephanie Dwyer and Kelly Monfiletto, and Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner. (Feb. 29, 2012)