Neighbourhood Watch is a partnership where people come together to make their communities safer.

It involves the Police, Community Safety departments of local authorities, other voluntary organisations and, above all, individuals and families who want to make their neighbourhoods better places to live.

It aims to help people protect themselves and their properties and to reduce the fear of crime by means of improved home security, greater vigilance, accurate reporting of suspicious incidents to the police and by fostering a community spirit.

Find out what North Beds Neighbourhood Watch were doing at the Bedford River Festival.

Objectives of Neighbourhood Watch

• To prevent crime: By improving security, increasing vigilance, creating and maintaining a caring community and reducing opportunities for crime by increasing crime prevention awareness.
  
• To assist the police in detecting crime: By promoting effective communication and the prompt reporting of suspicious and criminal activity.
  
• To reduce undue fear of crime: By providing accurate information about risks and by promoting a sense of security and community spirit, particularly amongst the more vulnerable members of the community.
  
• To improve police/community liaison: By providing effective communications through systems such as the Neighbourhood Watch Ringmaster system, which warns co-ordinators, and all those Ringmaster members that receive messages, of local crime trends which they can disseminate to their scheme members, and by members informing the police of incidents when they occur.

This is the story of one Neighbourhood Watch street co-ordinator

"When I moved into a new area I was concerned that drug dealing was taking place. My neighbours and I started a Neighbourhood Watch group, we reported everything we saw to the Police, descriptions, car registration numbers, times and dates, and raised the profile of our problem. From our information the Police were able to arrest the dealer and that issue was solved. Since then we have forged a really strong sense of community; we care about each other and the area in which we live. Residents take pride in the street, pick up litter, reporting issues such fly tipping, graffiti, and any suspicious activity. Part of the ethos behind Neighbourhood Watch is that if an area appears cared for and looked after, crime is less likely to occur. This has certainly been the case where I live."