Neighborhood watch founder and longtime Fresno resident Roz Clark dies

Fresno officials this week mourned the loss of Roselyn “Roz” Clark, the driving force behind the creation of Fresno Police and Neighborhood Watch. Clark died Tuesday at the age of 89.

Funeral services for Clark are pending, but officials at the organization announced an inaugural Roz Clark Legacy Awards Dinner and Fundraiser on November 3.

Clark, a native of New Orleans, was a volunteer extraordinaire who started the neighborhood safety organization with her husband Fred in Fresno in 1970, two years before the concept caught on nationally, said Mary Haskin, current executive director of the organization.

Haskin said Clark was also integral in the effort for Fresno police to acquire its first helicopter, its K-9 teams, and its mounted horse unit through her fund raising efforts.

“She was a trailblazer,” said Haskin.

“She took the football and ran with it when she started the neighborhood watch program,” added Haskin.

Clark got the impetus for the program a short time after she and her husband purchased a small apartment unit in 1970 near Belmont and Glenn avenues.

One day, said Haskin, Clark encountered a young girl in a panic, apparently in great fear and running from someone she had seen in the neighborhood. Possibly because it struck a chord with a childhood experience of her own in New Orleans, Clark went to Fresno City Hall and told officials something needed to be done for neighborhood safety.

Haskin said the start of the Fresno group preceded a similar national sheriffs’ organization effort begun in 1972.

“She was able to rally the community around the cause because of who she was as an individual,” said Haskin, who added that Clark worked for the Internal Revenue Service and “never received a paycheck” for her volunteer efforts.

“She dedicated her life to the community,” Haskin added.

Clark is noted for also donating time to the Brotherhood of the Badge law enforcement support group, helping to provide police equipment to Iraqi police after the end of the Gulf War, and assisting with the American Red Cross.

This story was originally published October 18, 2023 at 7:28 PM.