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Sustaining the Vision

Your Community

The first part of this website showed you how you can help to protect your family, yourself and your possessions. But there is a lot you can do outside your home and family to prevent crime. You can take action by getting together with other people and working in partnership with the police to reduce crime in your area. You can help by simply being alert and observant when out and about in your neighbourhood - anyone can play some part, however great or small:

Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch LogoNeighbourhood Watch schemes are a way for people in an area to get together to help prevent crime and make their neighbourhood a safer place. Neighbourhood Watch is known as Home Watch in some areas, but both work along similar lines and are built on the same idea - of looking after one another and the neighbourhood.

Groups can vary in size, depending on the area and what people want. They target local concerns - like burglary, vandalism or graffiti and devise ways of dealing with them. Individual members decide how active they want to be in the scheme. You could become a committee member or even co-ordinator of a group - or your part could be just keeping an eye on your neighbours' house while they're away.

Schemes develop close links with the police, who can provide advice and information about local problems. Well-run schemes can have a big impact on local crime.

Street Watch

You could also consider joining or setting up a Street Watch scheme - a new idea to use your eyes and ears to help the community. Neighbourhood Watch crime prevention activities are usually centred around people's homes and the immediate surrounding area. Street Watch is a separate scheme to take this a step further. In agreement with local police and local people, members work out specific routes and regularly walk their chosen area.

Street Watch members are ordinary citizens with no police powers. If they spot anything suspicious, all they are asked to do is report it to the police. They can also give active support to vulnerable people by offering transport or escort on foot.

Groups are managed by a co-ordinator who keeps a list of volunteers and provides advice, guidance and support - in consultation with the local police. Street Watch can help reduce crime because members actively use their local knowledge when out and about in their neighbourhood.

Street Watch Guidelines

A set of guidelines for Street Watch activity has been agreed by the Police - you can get a copy from your local police station.

The guidelines include a basic set of 'Dos and Don'ts' which warn against intervening in an incident.
'Look, Listen and Report - but don't have a go' and always stay within the law.

Other 'Watch' Schemes

Watches need not be confined to residential neighbourhoods. For instance, Business Watches can be very effective in high streets and industrial estates. Farm Watches can encourage farmers to keep an eye on one another's livestock and machinery. Boat Watches can greatly improve the security of marinas and harbours.

Voluntary Organisations and Consumer Power

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