Staffordshire Police

Interested in setting up and co-ordinating a new scheme? Here’s an easy step-by-step guide to how to go about it:

Step one

Have a word with a few neighbours to see if there is interest in setting up a Neighbourhood Watch. Select the area/roads you intend to cover. Some areas split themselves naturally along roads or natural boundaries such as rivers or fields. Don’t feel that you need to have a large scheme. Schemes can be as large or small as you want; a whole estate or village, or just a few houses. A smaller scheme involving near neighbours may be more manageable. Don’t discount areas because you don't know anyone living there.

Step two

Make contact with your local Neighbourhood Watch Manager by ringing 101. The manager will support and advise you on setting up your Neighbourhood Watch scheme and as the first step, can provide you with letters of invitation to distribute to your selected area. You may have some neighbours who will volunteer to help distribute the letters. Personal contact works much better than a simple leaflet. If there is time, it is worth a quick word on the doorstep when the letters are delivered, pointing out the benefits of joining a scheme.

Step three

No more than a couple of weeks after the letters are distributed, contact your Neighbourhood Watch Manager again. Together you can look at the response and make a final decision on the area that will be designated as a Neighbourhood Watch scheme. Where possible, a meeting will then be arranged to get neighbours together to launch the scheme. The Neighbourhood Watch Manager can provide letters of invitation and will attend and lead the meeting. Where a meeting is not possible, the scheme can be launched by delivering literature to each home in the scheme area.

Being a scheme co-ordinator

Every Neighbourhood Watch Scheme is unique, owned by the community and supported by the police. Some schemes have an Area Co-ordinator who oversees the scheme and collates and maintains members’ details, as well as Street Co-ordinators. Other schemes just have Street Co-ordinators who oversee a group of homes. Area co-ordinators and Street co-ordinators work in partnership with the Neighbourhood Watch Manager. They:

• receive information from the Online Watch Link (OWL) system, making sure it’s passed to each scheme member in their group
• distribute (or organise distribution of) written crime updates, newsletters or other literature when appropriate and as soon as possible after receipt
• attend occasional co-ordinators' meetings
• encourage all homes in their scheme to prominently display Neighbourhood Watch and 'property postcoded' stickers and ‘we don’t buy or sell at the door’ cards
• welcome new residents and invite them to join the scheme
• assist the area co-ordinator (if appointed) when required, in supporting and maintaining the Neighbourhood Watch scheme for example arranging meetings
• encourage non-participants to join the scheme
• promote crime prevention within the scheme
• relay information on crimes committed against members in their scheme
• organise property postcoding and put up street signs where appropriate
• notify members of successes whenever possible

For more information on setting-up and coordinating a new scheme, ring 101 and ask for your local Neighbourhood Watch Manager.