East Cambs Neighbourhood Watch Association
Combating Crime
Doing something positive to combat crime.
Are you concerned about crime, vandalism or anti-social behaviour in your neighbourhood and if so do you want to do something positive about it?
There is a way you can make a real contribution to cutting crime. Neighbourhood Watch Groups have proved to be effective by assisting the police in providing essential local knowledge. The police don't have the manpower to be everywhere at once and they badly need the help of the public. This can best be channelled through the neighbourhood watch organisation.
Groups work best when they operate within a defined community, which can consist of a whole village, a street or a housing estate. Each group needs a coordinator and the more members it has the more effective it will be. The key to success is good communication, so that each member is quickly made aware of any local problem whether by telephone, e-mail, or by personal contact.
Communication with the police is two-way. Groups receive information, by e-mail, or by the police website, https://www.cambs.police.uk/ and can use the website to report non-urgent crime or gain access to the chat line again to report non-urgent crime. Incidents requiring an urgent response should be reported on 999.
Reporting incidents and suspicious activities to the police is most important as it helps them to form a picture of what is going on locally.
Coordinators have good links with Ely police who encourage and support the groups. We also have regular meetings for members within the East Cambs Police Sector and these are often attended by officers of Ely police.
Working together as a group helps to make your community a safer and friendlier place to live.
As a group you have a stronger voice
Tackling specific local problems is easier as a group
A group can identify and support the more vulnerable members of their community together
Pooling of local knowledge to improve community safety benefits everyone.
Neighbourhood Watch is the largest voluntary organisation in the UK.
We are not busybodies but we do keep our eyes and ears open for anything unusual or suspicious.
Remember, apathy among the public is the greatest aid to the criminal.
It may be that you have been involved in neighbourhood watch the past but your local group has become inactive owing to lack of support.
So what do I do if I want to join, set up or restart a local Neighbourhood Watch Group?
Initially you can make contact - see the Contact Us page and we will discus what is involved and provide you with all you need to get started.
To make a bigger impact on fighting crime more people need to become involved. How about you?
Updated 31/08/2023