Southwater Neighbourhood Watch

WELCOME TO SOUTHWATER NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Getting together with your neighbours to take action can cut local crime.

Everyone knows that the police are there to to fight crime, but they need your help to do an effective job. Neighbourhood Watch is all about an active partnership with the police. Neighbourhood Watch schemes can:

• cut crime and the opportunities for crime
• help and reassure those who live in fear of crime
• encourage neighbourliness and closer communities

There are other benefits to Neighbourhood Watch schemes, too. You will become familiar with crime prevention ideas which will help keep your home and belongings safe. And the extra security which belonging to a Neighbourhood Watch scheme offers might even mean you can get a premium discount from your insurance company.

Neighbourhood Watch schemes can be large, covering, for example, most of the households on an estate, or they might involve just half a dozen houses. It depends on the area and what people living there want.

A scheme is generally led by a volunteer co-ordinator whose job is to get people working together and make sure things get done. As well as the co-ordinator, there is usually a committee. Committees meet regularly to plan which problems to target and what actions to take. Schemes keep in close touch with local police to share information and advice.

A lot. They can target local problems and take action to prevent them. Schemes should find out from local people what most concerns them and focus on a specific problem.

These are the key steps to targeting and reducing crime and the fear of crime in an area. In consultation with your local police:

• get a picture of local crime
• conduct a 'fear of crime' survey
• target crimes you can have a real impact on
• identify the opportunities for crime
• form an action plan to tackle the problem
• block or reduce opportunities for the criminal

Most crime is opportunist, committed on the spur of the moment, or when a car or house is left unlocked. This means there is enormous scope for reducing chances for criminals.

Traditional Neighbourhood Watch activity has focused on the immediate vicinity of homes, with members looking out for anything suspicious, or helping their neighbours as necessary. However, more and more schemes are broadening their range of work.

Targeting local problems such as vandalism or graffiti are well within the scope of of a well-organised Watch scheme. You may be able to take action yourselves, such as fitting more secure door or window locks in vulnerable homes, or you may need to get others involved. This could mean lobbying the local authority, for example, to improve the street lighting on your estate or to step up the security of a communal entrance.

Many schemes now work in partnership with other agencies like Victim Support to help reduce the fear of crime.