Stamford & District

Neighbourhood Watch Association

Notes on Neighbourhood Watch in Stamford 1989 – 2002

Introduction

After moving to Stamford in 1982 as a semi-retirement move, I became concerned about household security, not solely from a personal standpoint, but also on account of the high proportion of elderly residents living locally.

At that time I approached our local Police to carry out a Security Survey on my own property, as a result of which we introduced several improvements, including lockable windows, to our house. I was also given information about NW, which was being introduced to Stamford by our local Police, who convened occasional Meetings at the Police Station for householders co-ordinating existing Schemes (“Watches”); the Officer concerned (P.C.Reg Burrell) produced a Newsletter, which highlighted current local crime activity and offered general advice on security matters.

After discussing the matter with several local residents, we decided to form a Stirling Road Watch, and our Inaugural Meeting was held at the Police Station in November 1989; I believe we were the 21^st Watch in Stamford; I took on the duties as Co-ordinator, and enlisted the support of 2 other residents, who each looked after a section of the Watch, which now comprises a total of 45 – dwellings on both sides of the road. I had regular meetings with the Police Officer involved, and was soon asked to take over from him preparation and Editorship of the Newsletter in 1992. Since then this has been published Quarterly, and the current edition is Number 59.

A major change in the local NW Scheme took place in 1995, when, after consultation with Senior Police Officers, an Association was formed to organise and administer all local NW affairs; a Committee, comprising Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and 2 – Members was appointed under my Chairmanship. Our main role was to organise the Quarterly Co-ordinators’ Meetings, and liaise with Police on local crime activity and prevention, security measures and dissemination of information.

The local Scheme now comprises 87 – individual Watches, covering about 50% of all Residential properties in the Town, together with several local villages in Lincolnshire (we are on the borders of 3 – other Counties, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland).

Criminal Activity affecting the Householder

We have experienced a wide range of crime in the period under review, broadly under the headings of Professional, Opportunist and Vandalism (or Criminal Damage, as the Police prefer to call it).

Initially, Vehicle crime figured at the top of the number of incidents reported, with theft of and from vehicles parked on-Street or forecourt; we have tried to encourage people with garages to use them to store their cars, which are probably the second most valuable item in their possession, rather than to use it to store household junk! Fortunately, with improved inbuilt security features by design, this situation has improved, although it is still a problem.

Entering property and stealing valuables is an ever-present risk, performed by both professional burglars and opportunist amateurs; entry usually occurs at the rear of the property, and I am always appalled at the carelessness of many householders in leaving windows and even doors open at all times of the day and night – an open invitation to the criminal!

We also experience uninvited callers at the door in a variety of roles – selling goods, offering services (gardening, roofing, paving &c.), and, worst of all, bogus callers, usually working in pairs and purporting to inspect services inside the house to gain entry and steal. Many of these callers are likely to have “criminal intent” and are using their role to find unoccupied houses, or “case the joint” for a planned break-in at a later time.

A more recent feature is the telephone “scam”, such as asking the call recipient to ring a certain number to “test the line”, or to tell them that they have “won a prize” and to ring a certain number to claim it! Beware!

Vandalism, often carried out by young people as a form of bravado or attention-seeking, but more serious exploits, often alcohol-related, such as knocking down walls, breaking windows, damaging parked vehicles, or general rowdy behaviour, seems to be a feature of Neighbourhood Crime nowadays, and we have experienced our share of that, too.

Relations with Local Police

As an Organisation which seeks to improve Community Relations and help the Police in their work of maintaining Law and Order, we have experienced good relations with Officers at all levels. Having said that, I often found myself in the position of having to defend the Police for, say, failing to respond quickly to a reported incident, or ignoring Neighbourhood crime in favour of “more serious matters”.

A County-based computerised Information system (“Watchline”) was introduced in the ‘90’s to enable local criminal activity to be notified direct to NW Co-ordinators; although it has taken a long time to refine this, it appears to be working well locally after various weaknesses in the system design showed up with usage.

Changes in the Police organisation, especially local management and area of Control, have necessitated getting to know “new faces” – not an easy task for a Co-ordinator with limited time available, a full-time job, or a young family.

We have recently introduced Community Support Officers – uniformed officers without powers of arrest, whose duties are to carry out patrols, respond to reported crime and unruly behaviour; initial reaction has been good, as these officers will “fill the gap” created by the lack of “Bobbies on the Beat”, allowing the regular force to deal with more serious incidents.

NW as an Information Provider

I believe that the movement’s prime functions are to provide the average Householder with general information about local criminal activity, and thus to encourage them to take whatever action they deem necessary to safeguard their own property, and also to report any suspicious activity without delay to the Police (this would include keeping an eye open for “stranger vehicles”, unwanted callers, empty houses &c.).

We always ask the Police to be represented at our Quarterly Co-ordinators’ Meetings, which are usually well-attended; these give Co-ordinators the opportunity to speak frankly about recent happenings in their own Watches, and voice criticism, and suggestions for improvement, of the Organisation. I believe that such Meetings are a key feature of our relationship with the Police

Summing up, I believe that we can claim that Neighbourhood Watch has helped to reduce crime, improve Community relations, and also build a working Partnership with local Police. As an entirely Voluntary organisation, we sometimes find it difficult to recruit Watch Members to serve as Co-ordinators and Committee Members, and rely heavily on Retirees for such duties.

Philip Day

10 August 2004