Home Watch groups in Cheshire have gone digital.
That is one of the main messages from the watch organisations during this week's national Home Watch Week, running until Sunday, 26th June 2011.
Jenny Ford, Community Engagement Manager for Cheshire Police said, "The old curtain-twitching image is a thing of the past. Most Home Watch activity is now geared around email messages sent by Cheshire Police, Council Trading Standards Services and other partner agencies about current criminal activity.
"For instance, the messages may contain warnings about sneak-in burglars, bogus callers or rogue traders operating in a particular neighbourhood. They may have an appeal for information about a vehicle which police believe is involved in crime, or information about a telephone scam which is in common use.
"The messages are sent to the local Home Watch co-ordinators and cascaded down to individual watch members. If anyone does not have an email access, a neighbour will print out the message and take it round. It is quick and simple and it keeps people up to date with the main threats to their home security.
For more general advice groups can also access a national Home Watch website, Twitter and Youtube, CrimeMapper, Facebook and, of course the Cheshire Police Website.
Jenny added "Keeping an eye open for suspicious activity and reporting odd incidents is still important but now people are kept informed. They know what they are looking out for."
In keeping with this 'virtual' image much of the publicity during Home Watch Week will be channelled through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Jenny Ford said, "The social network is now used by a wide age-range and we want the active membership of Home Watch to be as diverse as possible.
"Older people bring plenty of life experience to the groups. If they are retired they have more time available and they can keep an eye on the street while their younger neighbours are out at work.
"Some younger people can offer energy and new ideas, but they may feel they will not have enough time to play a very active role. In fact, thanks to the email system, Home Watch work does not have to make major demands on your time. This Home Watch week is a chance to make that clear.
"Home Watch certainly provides a good return on any time you can invest in it. It is run by the members themselves and it provides a channel of information to and from local Police Officers. It offers everyone a real opportunity to be involved in fighting crime and tackling anti social behaviour at a grass roots level.
"Information supplied by Home Watch groups has resulted in the arrest and conviction of criminals and in measures to stop outbreaks of anti social behaviour. Even more important, Home Watch has a real deterrent effect on crime. Burglars and other criminals know when they see a Home Watch sign they are facing a much bigger risk of being caught.
"As a side effect, neighbours involved in Home Watch schemes get to know each other and have a common purpose. It can build a strong community spirit in an area where none existed before."
If you want information about setting up a Home Watch scheme or more information about Home Watch locally, or if you are a Home watch group planning to set up a Community Safety Day or similar event, email Cheshire East partnerships or call the Cheshire Police Information line 0845 458 0000.
Photo: Jenny Ford, Cheshire Police Community Engagement Manager.
