Become a Co-ordinator

How are schemes set up?

The first point of contact is your local Police Station! The Police will be able to put you in touch with an established scheme, if there is one in your area, and your local Neighbourhood Watch association. If there is no established scheme the Police will be able to arrange for a scheme to be set up if others in the neighbourhood are also interested. In this case someone will have to volunteer to become the co-ordinator.

What is the role of the
Co-ordinator?

The role of the Co-ordinator is to;

	Contact individual households in the Neighbourhood and arrange a meeting to discuss setting up a scheme;
	Set-up and maintain a neighbourhood Watch within a specific area;
	Communicate relevant Police information on crime within an area;
	Act as a link between the scheme, other co-ordinators, the local Police, the local Neighbourhood Watch Association, and the local authority.
	There are a number of tasks a co-ordinator can become involved with, and these can be discussed in detail when a scheme is set up.

Setting up your scheme.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

No matter how long your journey, it always starts with one step. Your first step in setting up a Neighbourhood Watch must be to ask:

"Do we want neighbourhood Watch and if so what do we expect to get from it in our street, village or estate?"

Don't think about the broad benefits that Neighbourhood Watch brings, like reducing crime or reducing the fear of crime. Think about the specific problems you have and how Neighbourhood Watch can reduce them. For example:

	You may want to reduce the damage to windows at the local school;
	You may have a problem of cars being broken into because the houses have no parking space;
	You may want to improve contact with the Police since your local Police Station is closed during certain hours.

Every area has different problems. Some of the situations you want to tackle will be unique to your area.

Once you've identified the problems you have in your area, think about the activities you want within your Neighbourhood Watch to help you solve them. In other words, what you can do as a group to achieve something. Activities could include a whole range of things including:

	Representation to the local Council;
	Arranging for better communication with the Police;
	Circulating information;
	Holding social events so that people get to know each other;
	Holding meetings to discuss problems.

"What do we need to make it happen?"

You need to think of the resources that will help you carry out your activities. Resources don't just mean money, but also things like:

	People's time;
	Premises for meetings;

People's time is the most important rescue you can have, for without it your scheme will not run properly, so at this point the most important question to ask is;

"Are we prepared to give the commitment to make it happen?"

Communication

Communication is the fuel which neighbourhood Watch runs on. When communication stops Neighbourhood Watch comes to a grinding halt.

Like all fuel, to do it's job properly communication requires certain ingredients.

	It must be accurate
	It must be conveyed at the appropriate time and by the right method
	It must be passed to the right person(s)

Comprehensive information is conveyed to Co-ordinators in order that all members of a Neighbourhood Watch are aware of the the methods to be used in order to achieve it's objectives.

How To Watch

The public are at greatest risk from Crimes such as burglary, car crime, and vandalism. These happen at all levels of our society but can be reduced by a really effective Neighbourhood Watch. In those areas where the schemes are operating, crime has been kept down significantly.

The first role is to observe CALMLY and DISCREETLY. The very existence of Neighbourhood Watch in your area will act as a deterrent to many criminal types, but where someone is determined to take a risk it is not the intention that members deliberately attempt themselves to scare off the suspect in order to prevent crime. Remaining calm and discreet gives you the best chance of registering and reporting what you see quickly and accurately.

The fact that many of the calls made to the Police by members will turn out to be false alarms, doesn't matter. The important thing, is that the information is reasonably accurate. There are of course some situations which are more urgent than others, where a 999 EMERGENCY CALL is essential.

Incident Report Card

Click on the link on the left to go to a copy of the form used by some Neighbourhood Watch Schemes to record the details of any suspicious incident/person. You can print this to act as an aide memoire even if you have no intention of becoming part of a Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

Contacts

Division	Contact	Contact
East	Mr Tony Day Police Station, Park Avenue, Skegness, PE25 1BL Telephone: 01754 614330/1 Fax: 01754 614332	Mr Bill Winterbourne, or Mr Ian Lattoe Police Station, Lincoln Lane Boston, PE21 8QS Telephone: 01205 366222 Fax: 01205 356483
West	Mr Martin Dickie Police Station, West Parade, Lincoln LN1 1YP Telephone: 01522 885326 Fax: 01522 885327	Mr Dave Townsend Police Station, Morton Road, Gainsborough DN21 2SY Telephone: 01427 810910 Ext.6326 Fax: 01427 810058
South	Mrs Sally Picker Police Station, Stonebridge House St Catherines Road Grantham NG31 9DD Telephone: 01476 403331 Fax: 01476 573257