The community working together for safety

Neighbourhood Watch is one of the biggest and most successful crime prevention initiatives. It is about people working together to make their communities safer and friendlier places to live and work.

The aim of Neighbourhood Watch is to help people protect themselves and their properties, reduce the fear of crime and improve their local environment. It is also a way of neighbours maintaining contact for their mutual benefit.

To be successful each community should have a number of local coordinators. Coordinators maintain contact with their immediate neighbours to circulate information relating to local crime and police related issues.

Neighbourhood Watch coordinators maintain close links with their local Neighbourhood Policing Team who provide regular newsletters with issues of local interest. Active issues are circulated by e-mail or in urgent localised cases by a telephone call from a member of the Neighbourhood Policing Team. Details of police street briefings and meetings of the local Neighbourhood Policing Panel are also circulated to coordinators.

Both Plaistow and Ifold have Neighbourhood Watch coordinators who maintain contact with adjacent properties. However to raise the impact that Neighbourhood Watch can have more coordinators are needed in both communities. Anyone wishing to become a coordinator or wanting more information on what is entailed should contact Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Clair Gamlin (0845 6070999 ext. 26682) of the Neighbourhood Policing Team at Petworth Police Station.

The Neighbourhood Watch schemes within Plaistow and Ifold come under Chichester, Bognor and District Neighbourhood Watch Association. Here you will find information on taking part and other items of interest. Coordinators are welcome to attend the meetings of the Association. Further information on Neighbourhood Watch and Neighbourhood Policing Teams can be found on the Sussex Police web site.