Cemetery Watch will be a first of its kind program that will be kicking off sometime in July. It is a cooperative effort between the Colorado Springs Police Department; city cemetery manager, Will Deboer, and the Evergreen Cemetery Benevolent Society.

What issues could a cemetery have that would need a program such as Cemetery Watch?

In the last three years there has been a steady increase, around the country, of thefts from graves. This year the trend has been to remove the brass or bronze plaques on veteran's stones. Thieves pry these plaques off the gravestone and then take them to scrap yards to sell. The thieves also remove the veteran medalions for the same reason.

Marble and granite vases are taken in large amounts and resold on Craigslist, yard sales, or garden shops. Statuary, planters, and sconces, whether stone or metal, are being taken to be resold as garden or yard art.

Cast Iron fences and gates are taken for scrap or sold as "salvage" metal to be used in gardens or scrapped. Porcelain portraits attached to stones are pried off and sold on ebay as "antiques".

Percieved gang related activity has increased in Evergreen cemetery making visitors uneasy and feeling unsafe. Graffiti was spray painted on a tree in large letters.

Vandals come into the cemetery and poured fuels and candle waxes on the stones. Some choose to spray paint stones or mark the letters with magic marker. In most cases these materials cannot be removed. Stones are pushed over causing breakage. Mausoleums are broken into and remains are stolen.

Obviously the residents can not report crimes or suspicious activity, but there is not a time when the cemetery is open that there aren't many visitors coming in and visiting relatives or searching for relatives. If nothing else, those visiotrs could become the eyes and ears needed to make this successful.