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How to start a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme
There are many reasons for wanting to start a Watch:
- your neighbourhood may be experiencing problems
- you want to pull your community together
- you want to reduce crime in your area
- you want to raise your and your neighbours' quality of life
- car crime
- vandalism
- nuisance youths
- bogus callers
- burglaries
- problem tennancies
- You may just want to protect your own homes by watching out for each other - that's fine!
A Scheme can be 3 houses or 300 there are no set "rules" on size, though obviously the larger the Scheme the more effort it takes to run
| Aims of Neighbourhood Watch |
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NW brings people together to work alongside the police in making local communities feel more safe & secure.
Aim - Working in partnership with the local Constabulary to make our towns & villages more secure & people to know one another again.
Objectives
1. To help provide reassurance to people in our communities.
2. To prevent & reduce crime in our neighbourhoods.
Main Activity
1. To encourage members to be Neighbourly, Watchful and alert in looking after themselves and others.
2. To act as a channel of communication - passing on timely information to the community and from the community to the police - to help prevent and detect crimes.
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Is there already a group in your area?
Contact your local Police Station to see if there is already a Scheme in your area - you can also check in our directory
Talk to your neighbours to see if they want a Scheme; post a notice in your local shops.
The first meeting
The next step is to contact your local Beat Officer or Crime Prevention Officer at your local Police Station and ask them to help you coordinate a meeting.
It can be at your home (depending on how many people live in your Street) or in a neighbour's home to keep the atmosphere relaxed. Include your Crime Prevention Officer or local Beat Officer who can answer any questions that might be asked about the Police and ensure that you remind people about the meeting a couple of daysbeforehand!
Once a venue, date and time have been chosen you will need to tell everyone about it. Your local Police Station should be able to help you with a professional-looking invitation card (produced by the Home Office)
The meeting should be organised well in advance, think about the venue, think about the time. Do you have any residents who are elderly or disabled? Consider them when choosing the venue. They may not wish to come out too late at night.
You may want to tackle specific problems - ask meeting attendees what they hope to achieve by being a member of a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme, this is where having a Police Officer or Community Beat Officer at the meeting will help.
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The success of Neighbourhood Watch Schemes depends on a number of factors - but the most important is commitment.
For a scheme to flourish, members must be prepared to take an active role and have a real desire to improve the safety of their local community.
Communication is important too - and members should be aware not only of local problems - but the initiatives and action required to solve them.
NW provides the opportunity to foster community spirit.
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Once it's been decided what problems are to be tackled, the Police can advise which course of action can be (legally) taken; but remember, the Group is not Police-led; they are only invited to be advisors - the decision remains with the Group which action to take
One good point about a NW Scheme is that most Insurance Companies offer discounts to Scheme members (though not all do - get your members to check with their own Companies, but it can be a good "selling" point)
As a watch co-ordinator, you will be seen as a leader, both by your neighbours and the police. The success or failure of the watch will be directly linked to your enthusiasm. It is in everyone's interest that the co-ordinator is a success and there will be considerable personal satisfaction when your scheme starts to have an impact on crime in your area.
The police can't run your watch for you, but they will give you lots of useful support, like information on local crime and details of new crime prevention activities. This sort of information will help keep residents interested in the scheme, provided you have a system in place to keep people aware of what is going on. |
Coordinators - Your first meeting is a good time to choose the Street/Area coordinator and a deputy (best to have a deputy, especially if your Scheme is large!).
The role of the coordinator can vary depending on how much time can be dedicated to the role, but it is the coordinator who receives any messages from the Police - this could be via Ringmaster or some other message-cascade system used by the local Force - and asks as spokesperson for the Group; a hub, if you like to act between their Community and the Police and other Agencies
So, the "job" can entail:-
- keeping the Scheme going - first few months, everyone is enthusiastic - this can wane!
- being a hub between your Community and the Police and other Agencies
- being at the end of a phone in case of problems
- keeping in contact with other Schemes
- call regular meetings to listen to and discuss on-going problems
- carry forward any initiatives that have been decided
- carry window stickers, booklets and leaflets that are currently available for member access
- circulating a newsletter (keeping members up-to-date)
I can hear you saying, "but I work, I don't have time to do all that"!
OK, start off small, receive any messages that are given by members and the Police, which really is a must, and enlist other members of the Group to help you with the other things you want to achieve. You don't have to be a one-person band!
You don't necessarily have to have a constitution unless you want to; however, if you want to buy NW signs or you want to launch a campaign you will need a bank account - which then means you'll need a chairman, treasurer, secretary and a constitution, just to open a bank account! If you just want to buy NW signs, you could ask members of your Scheme for a nominal sum (divide number of members into cost) and that way, there will be no need to open an account
What do you do now? You've got your Scheme started, you've got your coordinator and deputy (or deputies) elected and now you'll need some supplies - booklets and window stickers, etc
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Public liability Insurance is available, free of charge, to all Neighbourhood Watch Schemes and Associations across England and Wales
It is provided by ANSVAR insurance via CaSE at NHW@caseinsurance.co.uk and funded by the Community Watch Forum, the new National Forum for Neighbourhood Watch.
Firstly, you must register your Scheme or Association with your Local Police Force by contacting the Force Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator
Registration may vary from Force to Force but Schemes or Associations are likely to be asked to provide
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contact details of the NHW co-ordinator
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number of active schemes (if an Association)
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number of households covered
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number of active members
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the streets that are covered (postcode)
You will then be issued with a unique reference number by your Local Force and a standard username and password – this username and password will allow you to register for the Public Liability Insurance. These are a must for registration, without them your application will be rejected
Registration for the insurance is done on-line by ---to follow--- where you will be asked for your Police Reference Number, username and password
Simply follow the online instructions and complete the form ensuring you provide accurate information. You will be asked for the area covered by your Scheme or Association, your contact details and the number of houses in your Neighbourhood Watch area
If it is an Association that is registering Schemes en-bloc, and the number of Scheme Co-ordinators in the Association will have to be provided
Registration for Associations
Associations that have the opportunity to register their Schemes en-bloc only need one Police Reference Number, username and password to block register their Schemes
Information given must be accurate and up-to-date records should be held on ALL Schemes. Once the Insurance is supplied, individual Scheme Certificates of Insurance must be distributed to the Scheme Co-ordinators
For more help, contact CaSE at NHW@caseinsurance.co.uk or on 0845 225 2288 or visit their website at http://www.caseinsurance.co.uk/NHW/
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You could ask your local Police Station or NW dedicated Officer (if you have one) if they can supply you with all the booklets, etc that you need
The Home Office Publications department are a great source of literature. Either visit http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/publicity_catalogue/index.php or call 0870 2414680
If you want to use the NW logos on your letters, etc or if you want to start a website or even just one webpage, you must get permission by applying for a free license from the Home Office http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/logos-branding/nw-materials/?view=Register&step=1
Our help section http://www.nwinfo.co.uk/help/ is also a great source of advice.
So you've got your Scheme up and running - you want to get your Scheme noticed but don't have the funds to create a website...no problem!
Register with our site; visit here http://www.nwinfo.co.uk/news/?id=488, follow the instructions and create your own FREE web!
If you visit the forums, you can ask questions from those who've already "been there, done that" so that you can use their experience to meet your needs
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NW is much more than being a 'curtain twitcher' if a good idea is suggested by a member use the Forum on this URL to find out the opinions of other co-ordinators.
Simple things - if one member is going on holiday & has parking space available off road suggest that a second member could make the house look occupied by parking their car there & it is easier for other road users.
If there are a number of members needing dropped kerbs to park cars off road approach your local authority & ask if money saved by moving both plant & material to one site for 'one job lot' can be used as a discount for your members.
The Post Office no longer sponsors NW but in return for advertising NW in their shop your newsletter can suggest members ask for an insurance quote from them. If your members try this online find out the FAD code of the PO for them to quote.
Ask if wheelie bins can be collected for the elderly from their gardens.
All these ideas have been tried & tested.
If you have any similar ideas use the Forum & they may be included.
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