Mid Sussex security and crime prevention news for the community

Watch Out is the Mid Sussex Neighbourhood Watch newsletter and is distributed locally by the PCSOs and Neighbourhood Watch coordinators.  Designed to keep Mid Sussex residents informed of local crime issues, it contains a wealth of local information and crime prevention advice.

The summer edition has a report on May's North Downs NHW conference, how to report E.Crime, home fire safety checks, Neighbourhood Police Teams reports, the new Local Service Level Agreement details plus lots more.

Click to view Watch Out.

Here is the latest message to the community (6th May) from Edward De La Rue, Chief Inspector for Mid Sussex District.  It is intended to keep the local community informed and updated about key issues and developments in the area and can be viewed or downloaded opposite >>>
It is also available on our RSS feed and blog.

Download Community Message 55 (16KB)
Downloading and Printing info here.
Previous message No 54 (March, 16KB)

This document has been reformatted by this website from Sussex Police original into a PDF document suitable for web distribution.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of the Neighbourhood Panel, they have been developed in the Mid Sussex area to assist the Neighbourhood Policing Teams with setting priorities for us to work on.

August 2009 saw the first meeting of the new Hassocks, Keymer and Clayton Neighbourhood Panel and follow-on meeting have been held every 10 weeks since.

The meetings are informally chaired by myself, PCSO Emma Collett with attendance by main coordinator Bruce Burgess.

At the June meeting we set the following priorities:

Priority 1: Address issues in North Court/Semley Rd/Stonepound Road/Stamford Avenue with parking and anti-social driving.
Action: Letter is currently with Sgt Jefferies for approval - to be sent on to West Sussex District Council.
Priority 2: Monitor youth issues in the village over school holidays.
Action: Any noted 'hotspots' to be emailed to PCSO Collett for peak time heightened patrols.  Local area events schedule to be found and passed to children/parents as required.
Priority 3: Visit vulnerable properties in the area for reassurance and crime prevention advice following the recent burglary incidents.
Action: Leaflets to be distributed to properties identified as 'vulnerable'.  Visits to these properties and residents to be identified by PCSO Collett, NHW and panel members.  Clayton walkabout set for 29th June at 7pm.

We have set various actions for ourselves relating to these and previous topics and you will see us in the village carrying these out.  Please visit my blog to look at the priorities in more detail.

As one of the original priorities was to highlight the profile of the panel, we are always looking for more volunteers to join us.  We will welcome all new members of all ages but are keen to see the Hassocks Traders represented and those attending the village schools (teachers/parents or children) and youth organisations.  In December we welcomed three new panel members.

Our next meeting is on 9th September at 7.30pm at the Council Chambers, Parish Centre in Adastra Park.  Future meeting dates will be advised here.

Follow-on meetings are held about every ten weeks to give an opportunity to provide feedback and updates on progress and to review the priorities.

If you are interested in joining us, please PCSO Emma Collett with your contact details or call on 0845 60 70 999 ext 27411.

Dates for forthcoming Police Surgeries >>>

All are held at the Hassocks Parish Council Offices in Adastra Park or at South Downs Nurseries café (marked SDN) where free tea and coffee is available for those who wish to meet with me there.  Please come along if you have any problems or questions that the police may be able to help with.

1st August - 1pm (SDN)
19th August - 11am
29th August - 1pm -  (SDN)
7th September - 11am
3rd October - 1pm -  (SDN)
21st October - 10.30am (time change due to clash with HPC surgery)
31st October  - 1pm -  (SDN)
9th November - 11am
5th December - 1pm -  (SDN)
14th December - 11am

The Community Crime Fighters programme aims to develop stronger links between crime-fighting agencies and the communities they serve.  They're members of the public who are already actively involved in their communities and want to do or know more.

If you work alongside your local police or council, eg. as a  Neighbourhood Watch coordinator, you may like to attend a Community Crime Fighters training event.  It's free to attend and lunch and refreshments are provided plus help is available with travel costs if needed.  Young people over sixteen and not in full time education are welcome to attend.

The programme has now ended for 2009.  Recent events took place at the Oval Cricket Ground in London on 25th November and in Brighton on 13th October.  We'll post details of future events here.  Prior booking is required, which can be done online on the communitycrimefighters website (quote booking reference CCF02).  Or call the registration desk: 0800 197 2965.

Topics covered include: how you might get more involved with your local services to reduce crime and the fear of crime in your community, an understanding of the services and information you can and should receive from the police and other agencies, and ways you can more effectively hold your local crime fighting services to account.

Events are intended for volunteers and community activists and not council reps, housing officers or police.  Also please don't book if you've already attended a one-day Crime Fighters event.

The Crime Fighter Toolkit can be downloaded below:

Community Crime Fighter Toolkit (225KB)
Downloading and Printing info here.

Mid Sussex Neighbourhood Watch have produced a handbook containing a wealth of useful information.

The 50 page publication contains advice and tips on keeping the criminal at bay; personal, property and vehicle security, fire safety, local contacts listings, plus much more.

The booklet has been sponsored by many local agencies including WSCC, Mid Sussex and Haywards Heath councils, the Fire & Rescue service, Sussex Police, Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Federation and the Scarman Trust.

The printed booklet can be obtained from Mid Sussex police stations or downloaded from the links opposite in either PDF or ZIP format.

The handbook is identical within both files types >>>

Download members handbook (PDF) (3.86MB)
 Download members handbook (ZIP file) (3.47MB)
Downloading and Printing info here.