Business Watch

Laguna Niguel Police Services offers businesses the opportunity to become part of Business Watch - a crime prevention program that enlists the active participation of citizens in cooperation with law enforcement to reduce commercial crime in their community. Business Watch involves the following: 

  • Business owners getting to know each other, taking the time to care about each other and working together in a program of mutual assistance.
  • Citizens being trained to recognize and report suspicious activities in their communities.
  • Crime prevention strategies such as business security, Operation Identification, and others being implemented by citizens.
The following services are offered to commercial property owners and managers:

  • Security surveys conducted on-site to make your property more secure.
  • Safety and training sessions for your employees.
  • Burglary and robbery procedures.
  • Safety programs for employees.

Why Business Watch?

There can’t be a law enforcement officer on every corner, so citizen’s involvement is essential to combat crime. You and your fellow merchants are the ones who really know what is going on in your community. By cooperation with each other and the police, people can help fight crime in their community in the most effective way – before it begins! Business Watch members place a decal in their store front windows and post Business Watch signs on there commercial property, warning criminals that they are in an active Business Watch Community, and that merchants are watching out for each other. Also, each member of Business Watch is assigned a member number (on decal) which is used to contact business owners in case of an after hour emergency such as a unsecured door or window, a window smash, or a burglary.


Business Enhancement Team (BET)

Laguna Niguel Police Services has a program offered as part of their services known as Business Watch. This program is modeled after another one known as Neighborhood Watch, which takes the “neighbors looking out for neighbors” concept and applies it at the commercial level. This creates the opportunity to build a partnership between businesses and law enforcement. As part of this program, Police Services connects with business owners to get emergency contact information in case a situation should arise after hours where Deputies need to get a hold of that point of contact. Participants in this program receive a ‘Business Watch Program In Force’ decal to display in their front window. Additionally, participants will receive tips and recommendations on crime prevention, business and employee safety as well as have the opportunity to share concerns and questions with Police Services. In 2022, the Business Enhancement Team (BET) program was relaunched and is included in the Business Watch program as an extension. This piece of the equation utilizes the Police Auxiliary Citizens (PACT) team volunteers to act as a liaison representing Police Services within the business community. The city has been broken up into quadrants and our volunteers are assigned to specific areas to build a foundational relationship as well as educating our local businesses and their staff on ways to deter crime; ultimately making the businesses safer.

Business Watch Emergency Contact Form

Please CLICK HERE to complete the Business Watch Emergency Contact Form. Once completed, please email the form to Crime Prevention Specialist, Madison Simmons, at msimmons@ocsheriff.gov.

Services Provided 

The Laguna Niguel Police Services provides the following services to commercial property owners and managers:

  • Security surveys conducted on-site to make your property more secure. 
  • Safety and training sessions for your employees. 
  • Burglary and robbery procedures.
  • Safety programs for employees.