Communities invited to get involved in Street Watch to help prevent crime in local neighbourhoods

Northamptonshire Police is relaunching its countywide Street Watch programme and is inviting local people to come together as volunteers to contribute to community safety and crime prevention in their neighbourhood.

Street Watch enables local people to take an active role in keeping their community safe by patrolling their local area as part of an organised scheme, identifying potential issues and engaging with local residents, encouraging them to report things like antisocial behaviour, vandalism and suspicious behaviour to the police.

Street Watch volunteers are supported by a coordinator who liaises with team members and their local neighbourhood policing team to share information and help progress any initiatives that can help prevent crime and improve safety in their local area.

Volunteers are asked to spend a minimum of two hours a month, at times that suit them, patrolling with other scheme members in their local area.

Chief Inspector Dave Wakeman, who is coordinating the relaunch of the Street Watch in Northamptonshire, explained more about the programme. He said:

“Street Watch is based on a very simple idea – it’s about going for a walk with your neighbours, getting to know people in the area, being a visible presence to help deter crime and anti-social behaviour and generally building up a greater sense of community spirit.

“We already have nine schemes established across the county, with 29 volunteers carrying out patrols each month in their local area.

“By relaunching the Northamptonshire Street Watch programme and putting steps in place to build stronger links and more regular contact between individual schemes and their local neighbourhood policing team, we hope to build a strong network of volunteers across the county to help support safer communities.

“Each scheme is led by a coordinator – a volunteer who will lead the team and liaise with their neighbourhood officers to get information about things to look out for or areas to focus on, and also to be able to provide feedback from their patrols.

“We ask for a commitment of at least two hours a month but volunteers can do as much as they like. All we ask is that there are at least two people on each walk for safety and we provide a high visibility jacket with "Street Watch" on it so people know they are part of an organised group.

“Volunteers organise their own walks, when and where they want to – and can even walk their dog at the same time! It really is up to the group themselves how much or little they do. Street Watch is for the community, by the community but our neighbourhood teams will be there to provide as much support as possible.”

Anyone who would like to get involved or set up a Street Watch scheme in their area can find out more at www.northants.police.uk/streetwatch or email [email protected].