Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Ellis, has called on people in Stone to shape a new and dynamic Neighbourhood Watch movement across Staffordshire which will focus on keeping local communities even safer and even more closely linked with local policing.
Neighbourhood Watch currently has over 25,000 registered members across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent who receive regular updates from their local policing team. Extra resources and more time will now be invested to reinvigorate the way Neighbourhood Watch works. This will make the scheme more appealing to the wider community, and young people in particular, to better reflect the diversity of communities in Staffordshire, and to be an organisation that serves the needs of everyone, regardless of age or background.
Neighbourhood Watch has a key role in ensuring that the police respond to the needs of local people, and wants its members to have the right tools to be a vital source of real time information for officers on the beat.
The future of Neighbourhood Watch may see members given more choice on what information they receive, how and when they receive it, and the inclusion of social media, in addition to more traditional means.
Mr. Ellis is encouraging local people and organisations to attend an engagement event on Saturday 30th May, to discuss how new and innovative technology can supplement existing processes, thus making a significant contribution to keeping local people informed and engaged with local officers.
Mr. Ellis said: “Neighbourhood Watch has always done a good job to raise awareness of, and help the police deal with crime and anti-social behaviour, but, at the moment, the level of support provided by local policing to Neighbourhood Watch groups varies from area to area across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. It means that the effectiveness, or even the existence, of Neighbourhood Watch depends partly upon where you live.”
“As modern crime becomes more complex and sophisticated, we need to reinvigorate the movement and use it as a building block of a wider approach to engage local communities to work alongside the police to keep their areas safe. This isn’t about change for the sake of it, but about building on those things that work, helping more areas to establish Neighbourhood Watch, and providing the necessary investment and support to grow the numbers and age range of people who are involved. Equally, the Chief Constable, Jane Sawyers, supports the reinvigoration, as her officers will work closely with Neighbourhood Watch, and will see it as an important element of front line policing.”
“If we get this right, it will squeeze criminality from the top through more effective policing, and from the ground up through communities working together with law enforcement. It will help turn the tables on crime, wrongdoing, and those who are responsible for it.”
Representatives of Neighbourhood Watch areas will be extended the opportunity to support the new Safer Neighbourhood Panels, which were set up by Mr. Ellis earlier this year to give local people an opportunity to hold their local senior police commander to account.
Chief Constable Jane Sawyers said: “Neighbourhood Watch volunteers play a vital part in helping us to keep local communities safe, by helping prevent and reduce crime, and we are extremely grateful for their ongoing support and commitment across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. However, with the ever evolving world of social media and technology offering up more ways of sharing information quickly, we must make sure that Neighbourhood Watch stays current and it’s only right our communities have their say in how it’s reinvigorated.”
“This is not Neighbourhood Watch as it’s always been, but a new approach which can attract new audiences, and provides a first class opportunity for Staffordshire Police to work with different people at a local level to keep communities even safer. This is just the start of a journey for Staffordshire Police, of which the engagement event on 30th May forms part.”
Anyone wishing to play a part in making Staffordshire even safer by attending the event is asked to contact Ash (Patrick) Connor at Staffordshire Police on 01785 234129 or via email – patrick.connor@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk Attendance is by registration only, and spaces for the event, which starts at 9.15am and concludes by 12 noon, are limited.
