Loading... Please wait...

27 March 2010

A vital link between police and local communities -Neighbourhood Watch Logo

I've just got back from meeting Neighbourhood Watch coordinators in the Northfield area. Held at Colmers Farm School and Sports College in Longbridge, the event also heard presentations from the Police, magistrates, the Probation Service and Victim Support. A local journalist from the Birmingham Mail was also on hand to talk about some of the ways – good and bad – in which the media reports on community safety issues in our area.

Around fifteen per cent of the cases I take up for local residents each year are about crime and anti-social behaviour. There is no doubt that this is a top priority for people of all ages who live in the Northfield area. The good news is that crime levels are now much lower than they were a decade ago – in this part of Birmingham as well as nationally. Extra investment by the Labour government has increased the numbers of police in our area and brought Police Community Support Officers to our streets for the first time. But there is still more to do and all too often people still feel insecure from the threat of crime.

That's why events like this one are so important. Local people who get involved in Neighbourhood Watch schemes are a vital link between the Police and local communities. They are not only the eyes and ears that are so important to preventing and detecting local crime. They also provide feedback to the Police and other agencies about what local people feel should be the priorities for keeping their neighbourhoods safe.

I am really pleased that the new Chief Constable of West Midlands Police is making neighbourhood policing a priority and he is shifting the way the Police organise themselves to reflect that. There are now local neighbourhood tasking meetings in your area that can give you a say in deciding local police priorities.

For details of your local Neighbourhood Tasking meeting and for news about what is going on in the fight against crime in your area just log on to www.west-midlands.police.uk.