Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Ellis, is aiming to encourage residents, businesses and partners to shape a new and dynamic Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) movement across Staffordshire, focused on keeping local communities even safer and even more closely linked with local policing.
NHW currently has over 25,000 registered members across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent who regularly receive 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 in particular young people 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.
NHW 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 NHW may see members given more choice on what information they receive, how and when they receive it and including social media in addition to more traditional means.
Mr Ellis is encouraging local people and organisations to attend an engagement event on Saturday 30 May at Howden Suite at Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre, Yarnfield, Stone ST15 0NL 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 NHW, 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 NHW 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: “NHW 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 NHW stays current and it’s only right our communities have a say in how it’s reinvigorated.
“This is not NHW 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 30 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 by emailing him at patrick.connor@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk.
Attendance is by registration only and spaces for the event, which starts at 9.15am and will conclude by 12 noon, are limited.
