Neighbourhood Watch

Have you ever felt unsafe in your neighbourhood?

Do you feel safe in your own home?

Do you know what Neighbourhood Watch is?

 

With Christmas and New Year being a rather dead time for those not celebrating, perhaps you may be going away to see friends or relatives or leaving the country. A burglar would see this as a perfect opportunity to enter your property and take your personal belongings. Before leaving the house do you leave a light on a timer to show that someone is there?  It is the simplest piece of crime prevention advice and it costs so little.

If you leave your home empty for a period of time you may ask a neighbour or a friend informally to keep an eye on your home. Instead of just one person making sure your house is secure you could be part of a community of people who have a shared interest in protecting your home whilst you are away and also your own personal safety on a day to day basis.

 

Neighbourhood Watch in the High Wycombe area currently consists of 625 Watch Schemes and has an estimated 20,000 households involved. Your street could be newest scheme to be part of the watch and could potentially enable crime to reduce in your area.

Take for example your own street; it may have 50 homes on it, with a mixture of different types of residential properties. You could be the person how leads a majority of people who take the first steps to have a scheme of your own on your own road. Each new scheme normally has a Co-ordinator for every 10 to 15 houses and they will discuss local issues that will affect your own road such as security and anti-social behaviour. In a matter of a few weeks you could have your own road operating with a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.

 

So what are the benefits for me?

• The results of Neighbourhood Watch Schemes already established show that they can help to reduce local crime such as burglary, vandalism, car theft and theft from cars.

 

• A better community spirit can be created by the scheme operating.

 

• The opportunity to volunteer and meet new people that you may have lived next to for a long time but have never had a conversation with.

• The ability to feel confident about reporting crime to the police and a shared feeling about reducing crime throughout your neighbourhood.

If you are interested in setting up a scheme as a volunteer or being part of a current scheme already operating in the High Wycombe Area then please contact Wycombe District Neighbourhood Watch Association on 01296 396091 (the Watch Office).

 

 

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