KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- It was during the twilight hours last week, about two o’clock in the morning that Deena Walker’s alarm system went off and her dog started barking.

"And my dog started going crazy, I mean completely crazy -- and I came running through real fast, I mean fast as lightning," Walker said.

That’s when she noticed someone had cracked open her front door. She rushed over and slammed it shut as the three men trying to break into her house ran off into the darkness.

"I mean, this town is getting very awful," Walker said. "I mean, people that are completely innocent -- we need all the justice down here that we can have."

And that’s why neighbors in Marmet gathered at the community center on Tuesday night, to learn how to spot a criminal and rid the town of crime.

"Often times, people see things, and oftentimes they don't realize that they've seen things," Marmet Community Watch member Patty McGrew said. "And if the police are aware that someone has been on a street, maybe just walking down the street when a crime has occurred, that's someone that they can interview and can talk to and possibly give them a lead."

Members of the town’s watch group say this type of meeting is instrumental in what they do.

Meanwhile, Walker says she’s blessed she wasn’t hurt or worse, but she knows what saved her life.

"The Lord and my alarm and my doggie,” Walker said.