Anyone going to a Roseboro town meeting will see her sitting up front, waiting her turn to address the board.

She is there championing a cause that is a close to her heart — crime.

And for Community Watch director Betty Maxwell, the chance to do so doesn’t stop. She is determined to help everyone keep her town safe.

Maxwell, who retired to Roseboro back in 2001 after 20 years in the nursing profession, has been involved with the town and Community Watch for the last few years after the late commissioner and Community Watch leader John Besaw encouraged her to get involved in the organization.

“He invited everybody to attend Community Watch,” said Maxwell in a recent interview. In fact, she credits Besaw for helping to rejuvenate the organization in the western Sampson municipality.

And how much of a difference has her group made in the town? Maxwell explains, “It lets people in the town know what is happening,” in regard to crime and safety.

In fact, she has found that Community Watch was one of the first organizations in Roseboro to educate the public on any gang problems in the area.

“We had the state Community Watch (folks) come in to talk about gangs,” Maxwell established.

She also credits her organization for helping out with the town’s National Night Out event that took place last year. According to the National Night Out website, it is considered a crime and drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch.

“Community Watch was there to get the word out,” said Maxwell.

In fact, even as recent as last Tuesday, Maxwell attended a Roseboro board meeting to let the commissioners know that some residents were still unaware where the Sheriff’s Department is located in town, leading the mayor and other town leaders to look into additional ways to get the word out about the Roseboro Annex of the Sheriff’s Department that is located in the town hall.

And since the Sheriff’s Department has taken over, Maxwell has started to feel better about the move.

“At first, I was totally against the move,” said Maxwell who now says that she does not feel the same way entirely.

And having moved down here from New York, she does feel like Roseboro is a safe community.

But knowing that, she does caution that crime can happen to anyone, with or without Community Watch.

‘Things can happen anywhere,” said Maxwell. And knowing that, she encourages residents to come to Community Watch meetings that take place the first Monday of every month in the town hall at 7:30 p.m.

Katie Holland can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 136, or by e-mail at silife@myclintonnc.com.