Neighbourhood Watch

Some notes from Cllr Colin Robb - January 2007

What is neighbourhood watch?

It simply requires neighbours to take an interest in anything unusual going on in their street and reporting such incidents, either to their co-ordinator and/or the police. In other words, it simply means looking out for their neighbours.

Some examples of how neighbourhood watch can help to improve your area

Sick of dog poo?
Fed up with car parking abuse?
Fed up with cold callers?
Street drinking?
Suspicious activity in your area?
Strange behaviour of new neighbours?

In each and every case you have the simple option of reporting it to the police and or you co-ordinator. However do bear in mind that in some cases evidence will be required, this can be in the form of photographic evidence or a group of witnesses.

In the case of suspicious activity, the following may help to illustrate

One summer evening, my wife noticed a white van parked across the road from us. A gentleman was carrying cases out of the house. We had never seen the van before, also the front curtains of the house were drawn which was suspicious for a fine summer day. The resident’s car was not present, so I rang 999, explained the situation, and very much to my surprise within 5 minutes the local bobby, who was off duty, turned up in his own car, this was shortly followed by two patrol cars which blocked off the road. In the event it turned out that the gentleman in question was the resident’s brother who had arranged a surprise visit to the USA for his wife, and was simply packing items for their trip.

I was full of apologies to the police, but their attitude was, ‘You were not to know, and if it had been a real robbery we nabbed them!

I know this may sound like curtain twitching, but let’s be honest, if your house is broken into would you not be pleased that a neighbour had twitched their curtains and reported the incident in time to prevent greater loss?

Incidentally, my neighbour actually said afterwards, it was embarrassing for him, but that is what neighbours should be doing all the time.

What is the cost?

Apart from the cost of neighbourhood watch signs, currently £10 each, and maybe a donation to the co-ordinator to cover his or her costs, there are no ongoing costs.

So how do I set up a neighbourhood watch?

The first step is to get the agreement of your neighbours to form a neighbourhood watch. Generally speaking a neighbourhood watch group is confined to one street, or where a number of small streets are concerned, a number of streets. Ideally the number of properties involved should not exceed 50.

Following this, you as co-ordinator should contact Andy Scarisbrick, our local beat policeman, who will do a simple police record check, and if okay, arrange for the necessary approval etc.

What is the job of the neighbourhood watch co-ordinator?

The co-ordinator is the direct link between the watch and the local police. The Local police will supply the co-ordinator with information, which the co-ordinator delivers to all members of his/her watch.

If the Watch want to form a committee and become more pro-active, then that is up to them.

For example, one Watch I know of has a quarterly newsletter, and summer barbecues, to encourage the residents to get to know each other. The newsletter details all the street happenings, such as births deaths and new residents. However this is not compulsory, it all depends on you, the residents.

An illustration

A classical case is the recent incident in Church Close where an elderly resident was found dead in his bath. According to newspaper reports the resident had been dead since October, but it was only in January that the local residents reported they had not seen the resident for some time. Surely, if they had had a neighbourhood watch this may have become more apparent much sooner.

Neighbourhood watch is not just about crime, but looking out for one another, you do not have to be involved with each other, but you do have to be aware of each other.

If anybody would like to set up a neighbourhood watch in their area, I will be willing to help.

Cllr Colin Robb
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