Philly lawmaker proposes state training for neighborhood watch groups

A Pennsylvania lawmaker is proposing neighborhood watch groups should get more oversight from the state.

State Rep. Louise Bishop, D-Philadelphia, wants the groups receive training from the state police and be certified every five years.

“I want them to be registered. I want them to be trained. I want them to have an appropriation,” Bishop said Tuesday. “I want them to be recognized in the community as town watch groups so they know each other.”

Her plan would establish an unspecified fund for neighborhood watch groups and require the groups to pay a fee to the state police for training and certification.

Bishop says the bill stems, in part, from an incident in which her grandson was accosted by a town watch group member.

A similar proposal was floated late last year but it didn’t make it out of committee.