What is Neighbourhood Watch?  

Neighbourhood Watch is one of the biggest and most successful crime prevention initiatives ever. Behind it lies a simple idea, and a central value shared by millions of people around the country: 

Getting together with your neighbours to take action can cut local crime. 
Everyone knows that the police are there 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: 

1. Cut crime and the opportunities for crime.

2. Help and reassure those who live in our your area.

3. Encourage neighbourliness and closer communities.

4. Help to make a better place to live, work and play.

Neighbourhood Watch is not just about reducing burglary figures - it’s about creating communities who care. It brings local people together and can make a real contribution to improving their lives. The activity of Watch members can foster a new community spirit and a belief in the community’s ability to tackle problems. At the same time, you feel secure, knowing your neighbours are keeping an eye on your property. 

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 that you can get a premium discount from your insurance company. 

How schemes work 

Neighbourhood Watch schemes can be large, covering, for example cities 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 action to take. Schemes keep in close touch with local police to share information and advice. 

What can Neighbourhood Watch Schemes do? 

They can target local crime 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: 

1. Get a picture of local crime.

2. Conduct a "fear of crime" survey.

3. Target crimes you can have a real impact on.

4. Identify the opportunities for crime.

5. Form an action plan to tackle the problem.

6. 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 graffiti are well within the scope of a well organised Watch scheme. You may be able to take action yourselves, such as fitting more secure door and 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 and Help the Aged to help reduce the fear of crime. 

 
The Growing Need for Neighbourhood Watch

It is a fact of life that relationships in many of today’s communities have become less personal than they were years ago. Families are more transient, children have more activities that take them and their parents away from home, and there are more families with both parents working. The once-familiar sight of families visiting with each other on front porches while keeping a watchful eye on children and activities in the neighbourhood is a rarity in most communities today. This trend away from personal contact in the neighbourhood and the decrease in time families spend at home are two of the essential ingredients that make communities ripe for crimes of opportunity, such as break and enters.

Break and Enters– A Target for Neighbourhood Watch 

Break and Enter, the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft, is the crime that is targeted particularly by the Neighbourhood Watch Program. While it is one of the most prevalent and difficult crimes facing Police Services today, it is, at the same time, the one major crime that CAN be effectively resisted by each citizen taking POSITIVE ACTION at home.


Contrary to popular opinion, break and enters are not a crime restricted to urban areas; it also occurs in suburban and rural areas at an alarming rate. There are exceptions to the rising tide of crime, however, and studies reveal that these are often thriving Neighbourhood Watch communities, where dedicated, enthusiastic residents have been trained to notice suspicious activities and report them, not only to Police Services, but also to each other. Neighbourhood Watch is, after all, hardly a new idea; in fact, it is based on one of the oldest and simplest concepts known to man – neighbours helping neighbours. And when neighbours get together and cooperate with Police Services crime CAN be reduced. Numerous convicted criminals have admitted that they are simply not prepared to take the added risk of working in Neighbourhood Watch protected communities.

Neighbourhood Watch provides a means of reducing the opportunity for crime to occur, through the active participation of citizens in crime prevention. The program teaches citizens how they can:

1. Make their homes and apartments less inviting as a target for thieves.

2. Participate in Operation Identification.

3. Make personal property less desirable to burglars.

4. Identify suspicious activity in the neighbourhood.

5. Gain a sense of security.

Very few people are in a position to protect their homes and property all the time. Work, shopping trips or an evening out, as well as vacations, means homes are unattended and vulnerable to theft. The Neighbourhood Watch program provides a sense of security for individuals or families who leave their homes for any length of time. The program will also help to co-ordinate the efforts of the police and the community in tracking down criminals. Strong community involvement is encouraged because neighbourhood unity can deter crime that threatens residents’ peace and safety.

Taking Positive Steps

Victim responses to a home break and enter generally follow a similar pattern: Initial fear and anger give way to an obsession with seeing the intruder caught and making sure the home is never targeted by criminals again. In the past, many frightened victims sat back and simply hoped their homes would be spared a repeat performance. They, as well as their neighbours, worried and wondered about what they could do to protect their property

Since the establishment of Neighbourhood Watch however, thousands of homeowners who want to take intelligently planned action to decrease crime statistics in their areas have discovered that they have a ready, willing and highly qualified partner in their local police services. These homeowners now know that their police services would rather work with citizens to prevent crime than spend time with manpower investigating it after it occurs.


What Neighbourhood Watch Is: 

Neighbourhood Watch is an extension of what you are probably already doing on an informal basis. We tend to know and watch out for our closest neighbours. A group at one end of the block, however, may not know another family who resides at the opposite end of the block. Organizing a Neighbourhood Watch makes this attitude of watchfulness more systematic in nature.


Neighbourhood Watch involves : 

1) A commitment to improve your home security. 

2) A commitment to be concerned about your neighbour's property as well as your own. After all, a watchful neighbour is the best burglar alarm ! 

3) A commitment to report any crime that is occurring and any suspicious activity to the police and then to your neighbours. Talk to your neighbours keep them abreast of current crime trends and crime prevention techniques. 


What Neighbourhood Watch Isn't: 

1) Neighbourhood Watch does not require you to perform any special tasks, go to a lot of meetings or take on extra responsibilities. 

2) You don't have to patrol the neighbourhood or chase burglars. Neighbourhood Watch just involves being alert as part of your everyday life. For example, when you go to the window to open or close the drapes, instead of just opening or closing them and turning away, you might stop for a second and take a quick glance around your neighbourhood to ensure that everything is as it should be. 

3) Being a part of Neighbourhood Watch does not require you to know your neighbour's business. All that is required is that you be familiar enough with your neighbours to be aware of who belongs and who doesn't. 

4) Neighbourhood Watch isn't just for home owners. The program can be effective in City and Country settings, Town homes, Trailer Homes and Apartment buildings as well as on streets of Single Family homes. One aspect of the program - upgrading home security - can be implemented even if you do not own your home. You should contact your landlord regarding the installation of any new home security devices, however, to obtain their co-operation.

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