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Update to Neighbourhood Watch on the Crime Prevention Project

 

As a further addition to the strings of the Neighbourhood Policing bow – the responsibility for delivering Crime Prevention Advice has been assigned to your local Neighbourhood Specialist Team.  This means that there is a reduced need for centralised crime prevention activities as they will be delivered locally.

 

The Ringmaster system which had been in place in some areas in the county is now showing its age and will be replaced.  This was a telephone system which rang to give a pre-recorded message – mostly used in West Sussex.  Presently three options are being evaluated using email and text as the main lines of communication.  The new system seeks to enable watch members to update their details on-line, thereby maintaining accurate lists of members – we know how infuriating it is for ex-members to keep being contacted without any means to remove themselves from the mailing list.  It is anticipated the system will be in place by June 2008. 

 

There is inconsistency across the counties in terms of structure, communication between police and neighbourhood watch and the accuracy of watch member records.   This has been recently noticed by Lewes Town NHW when it came to compiling the lists for mailshots.

 

A new model to address these issues and integrate neighbourhood policing teams has been developed and is currently under consultation with district commanders, practitioners and Neighbourhood Watch.  The concept of the model involves Police Community Support Officers having specific responsibility to maintain contact with neighbourhood watch co-ordinators on their ward.  Links will also be maintained at a district level by the NST inspector or sergeant.  At a force level, a new Neighbourhood Watch Manager is being appointed as head of profession for neighbourhood watch with responsibility for maintaining links with the Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Federation. 

 

(We already do this last bit – the PCSOs have the responsibility to maintain contact with NHW – we even do some joint patrols with Malling NHW).

 

Viv Johnson

NPT Inspector

Lewes

    27.2.08

It's been a busy month of meeting staff and partners and looking at the way we Police the District.

 

Two days in and I witnessed a fantastic display of how we as a community can really tackle crime. The robbery at W.E. Clarke & Sons Jewellers in Cliffe High Street brought out the true spirit of people who thwarted the escape of the robbers by taking the keys from their getaway car and then giving chase on foot. With a fast response from my officers - helped by the numerous calls and information coming in we were able to secure the scene and give chase. With the expert skills of the Road Policing Unit and the Tactical Firearms Unit the pursuit was brought to a successful end near Hailsham. Property was recovered, and with my CID team conducting a thorough and detailed investigation I can report that the offenders have already appeared in Court and have pleaded guilty. They are now in prison awaiting sentencing. This really shows what can be achieved when we all work together.

 

I would also like to take this chance to thank all those involved - well done - what better way to show criminals that crime in our community will not be tolerated. Mind you, robberies of this nature do not happen very often, in the last year there were none in Lewes.

 

Also in May I had pleasure in visiting the 'Safety in Action' week held at Plumpton Racecourse. In its ninth year this is jointly organised by Sussex Police and Lewes District Council and was supported by enthusiastic staff from many agencies and partners. It was visited by 805 10 and 11 year old pupils from all over our District who spent 10 minutes with each agency completing an interactive safety scenario. Importantly, this year internet safety was introduced for the first time due to an increasing amount of young people using social networking sites. The event is a competition sponsored financially by Seaford Rotary Club. The winning school was Southover in Lewes with St John's in Seaford winning a prize for the best Special Educational Needs school. An enormous amount of effort by all those involved ensured an enjoyable and educational event reaching a substantial number of young people living on the District.

 

Looking at performance ....

In comparison to the monthly average over last year you will see a decrease in offences reported except burglaries in the Lewes area and damage to cars in Seahaven.

 

Although few in number, recognising how traumatic being a burglary victim can be, this is one of the highest priorities for me and my team as well as the Force as a whole.  We have worked with both the press and Lewes Crime Disorder Reduction Partnership to raise the awareness of bogus callers to peoples homes. There have been instances where the elderly have been called upon by males pretending to be from the water board investigating leaks in neighbours properties. Never let anyone into your home unless you are sure of their identity. If anyone tries always ring 0845 60 70 999 and tell us even if they haven't managed to get in, we need to catch these callous burglars.

Each month I will continue to report on crime as it is reported to us. However, I also want to ensure that we are dealing with the issues that effect you locally. Each town has a local action team (LAT) - a multi agency forum dealing with community safety and crime reduction issues. They are teams of committed individuals who want to make a difference to the local area. I would like to build on their excellent work by creating neighbourhood panels.

 

Neighbourhood panels (NHP) are about local people working together to identify and solve local community safety issues. The panels consist of around 10 people who represent the community. They look at the results of community consultations along with information from partners and the Police to identify 3 top priorities. They then get involved in deciding what action could be taken to address the issues. Monitor and feedback results to the community.

 

I will be working with the community safety unit of the LDC and my neighbourhood specialist teams to see how we can take this forward. If you are interested in becoming a panel member E-mail me or speak to your local PCSO.
If you have ideas as to how we can improve our service please feel free to contact me by E-Mail (Natalie.carron@sussex.pnn.police.uk) or ring me on 01273 665964.