Whether you want to start a new watch in your area or join an existing one, contact your local Neighbourhood Watch Administrator/Neighbourhood Policing Team who will support and guide you through the process.

As the Co-ordinator of Neighbourhood Watch, what will I need to do?

• Contact your local NHW Administrator/Neighbourhood Policing Team who can advise you on setting up a NHW scheme in your area.
• Set up and maintain and Neighbourhood Watch within the agreed area.
• Pass information to members, from the police, on crime in the area.
• Encourage members to inform police or Crimestoppers quickly of any criminal/suspicious incidents.
• Act as a link between the scheme, other co-ordinators, local police, local NHW Associations and the local authority.
• Circulate any newsletters, leaflets, property marking kits etc.

As a Neighbourhood Watch member, what will I be expected to do?

• Be alert and respond to what is going on in your neighbourhood, you will not be expected to patrol the streets, being vigilant doesn’t mean you have to be a vigilante!
• If you have the time, you could help to prepare newsletters or help organise meetings and events.
• You can take simple steps to avoid attracting criminals. For example, giving an elderly person who lives alone some help, pushing mail through a letterbox, removing milk bottles left on a doorstep, which might indicate that no-one is home.
• Look after your neighbour’s house when they are away. See Keyholder Responsibilities.

The number of houses involved in a scheme varies considerably. The ideal number of houses for one person to look after is between 10 and 15.

If numbers are significantly more than this, we recommend additional co-ordinators or contact people. Neighbourhood Watch schemes can be large, covering most of the households on an estate or they might involve just half a dozen houses. It depends on the area and what is wanted by the people living there.

A scheme has a volunteer co-ordinator who gets people working together and, perhaps with a deputy, makes sure things get done. As well as the co-ordinator, there is sometimes a committee. Committees meet regularly to plan which problems to target and what action to take. Scheme members can develop close links with the police, local councils and other local organisations. Your local neighbourhood administrator and police officers can provide advice and pass on information about local crime.

Each scheme is a community initiative supported by the police but not run by them. The success of a scheme depends on the level of activity of its members.