POSTED: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 -- 5:20pm

You've heard of the neighborhood watch program. Now, some Madison store owners are looking to form a business watch program.

Stand alone businesses and strip malls line Odana Road.

Since the first of the year, west side businesses have become targets.

"The mess and the irritation and you know the loss, has just been multiplied again," Dennis Egert told NBC 15 during an April 26th interview.

The owner of Brothers Main, on the west side of town, says his store was burglarized twice in one week.

"Information is power," says Lt Tony Bitterman.

Wednesday morning, Lt. Bitterman answered questions of concerned business owners. They gathered to talk about forming a new crime watch program.

"We want people to be alert," adds Lt. Bitterman. "We want people to be vigilant. We want people to look out for themselves. We want businesses to do the same."

Just last Friday, police say three men robbed a bank on Odana Road.

It's up to law enforcement to solve the case, but Lt. Bitterman says everyone plays a role in crime prevention.

"The police are a component of crime prevention, a big piece, but businesses and people have responsibility, also," says Lt. Bitterman.

"I want them to be vigilant at the grass roots level," says Tony Conti.

Conti is a retired detective with the New York Police Department. He responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center. Conti lost several co-workers and friends on 9-11.

Nowadays, he talks about homeland security. Conti says one arrest could result in much more.

"Maybe this guy has loose ties to some sort of radical organization of gang activity," he says. "And, what happens is more information gets gathered on a law enforcement prospective and you catch number 2, number 3, number 4 in some sort of an aggressive organization."

In January, Madison Police investigated 31-burglaries at west side businesses.

Lt. Bitterman says from February to April around 15, in all, were reported.

He says stepped up patrols and officer overtime contributed to the decrease.