hey Abby,
 
Your watch can be as active as you want.  When I started one on our street, I polled my neighbors first and asked if they would be interested and if so, would they consent to attending one meeting.  We had 100% participation on our street and Ofc Foreman came out and gave an hour 1/2 talk and answered questions the group had.  As block captain, I mainly set up a seperate email for this purpose and then collected a Watch Contact List for our block and made sure each neighbor had one.  We all keep each other advised of recent activites (ie- recent break-ins) and then contact Ofc Foreman if anything comes up (actual emergencies still dial 911).  Hope this helps.  Contact me if I can be of any more assistance.  EastCoronado@charter.net