Mid Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Newsletter

The 7th May saw the publication launch of the Mid Sussex NHW Handbook - the first for more than 10 years - which it is believed is the only one like it in Sussex. The launch took place at Haywards Heath Police Station and was led by Sussex Police Authority Member, Margaret Collins who congratulated the small team of members who had prepared this very useful publication.

Last year our Mid Sussex Association decided that efforts would be made to try and provide a Handbook for members in Mid Sussex District.

Financial support for this project was secured from several public organisations that welcomed our aim to give basic advice and guidance upon topics such as personal safety, home security, contacting the police, reporting information about crimes, burglar alarms, cold callers and bogus traders, fire safety, ID theft, frauds and scams, drugs and so on.

The 48 pages of the Handbook provide a convenient reference guide which it is hoped will be retained for several years as it also includes a list of useful contacts who may be able to help both with emergency aid and advice as well as upon many matters where help may be needed.

Websites of Interest

1. A new website has recently been launched, supported by the Home Office and ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers). It is called 'Neighbourhood and Home Watch' and its aim is to provide continuing information and guidance to help NHW members to make positive contributions to ensure their local communities are safe and feel secure. It can be accessed on the Internet by logging on to: www.mynhw.co.uk

The website has been set up by a new group that brings together regional representation of NHW schemes in England and Wales. It takes the place of the former National NHW Association that closed down a couple of years or so ago. Its official name is 'Neighbourhood & Home Watch Network' (NHWN).

2. Representatives of the former National NHW Association have been running a website and e-mail service for some time providing an assortment of

A short item in a recent edition of the Daily Mail reported that Government figures - from the latest British Crime Survey - showed that there has been a decline in the number of homes that are involved in Neighbourhood Watch. Possibly down from 6 million back in year 2000 to some 3.8 million now. Nevertheless, the good news is that research shows that 75% of the people who were not members of a NHW scheme said they would wish to join if there was one in their area.

Statistics also show that NHW Members are: LESS likely to be the victims of crime than those who are NOT in NHW schemes. MORE likely to have security measures in place at home. LESS likely to have concerns about anti-social behaviour.

Some politicians suggest that people are becoming more disinterested in supporting their local communities and that community spirit in towns and cities has declined, partly attributable to the scourge of anti-social behaviour.

Partnership Working

A paper recently prepared by Sussex Police stresses the importance of enhancing Neighbourhood Watch as underlying the new 'Partnership working' that has recently been introduced as a further development of Neighbourhood Policing. The basic purposes of NHW are to:

Help cut crime and the opportunity for crime
Provide reassurance to local residents and reduce the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour
Encourage neighbourliness and closer communities
Improve the quality of life in one's local environment

Yes, Sussex and Mid Sussex in particular, by comparison with many parts of the UK is regarded as a low crime area, but that is certainly aided by the strong presence that NHW has had in much, but not all, of our local communities. Indeed the Sussex Police paper states that since NHW

Dear Neighbourhood Watch Member

There are some exciting opportunities being developed in the Mid Sussex area with setting up local neighbourhood panels. Neighbourhood policing has evolved since I set up the team in March 2006 and it has been challenging but rewarding. Neighbourhood policing must still remain the focus for long term problem solving, improving the communication with the public and delivering a safer area to live and work in. It is also to improve the confidence in Policing and to demonstrate that we work in partnership to deal with the issues that matter to local people. I believe that confidence in the policing of the Mid Sussex area has significantly increased since the creation of the neighbourhood team.

Neighbourhood panels

So how does it work? - The aim of the panels is to assist the team with setting a minimum of three priorities per neighbourhood and this will come from local knowledge (eg cars racing around an estate and causing noise) and also we will provide additional incident and crime data. It is important to state that the priorities are set by the panel and not the Police and may not even be issues that the Police can deal with directly and other statutory agencies will be tasked. The priorities will be shared with the public via the PCSO blog on the Sussex Police website. The panel will discuss how to resolve the identified issues, get involved if needed and the Police will feedback on any results at subsequent meetings. The panel will be made up of people who live and work in the area and we will strive to get a good cross section of the community involved. They will meet up every 10 weeks or more regularly if there are particular concerns.

NST News...
East Grinstead NST
The NST in East Grinstead have been working hard to bring to the area Operation Beatsweep. Many of you may well have heard of this operation which has been running successfully in Burgess Hill. The Ashplatts ward have been the first to receive this operation which has been run in conjunction with East Grinstead Town Council. Local residents have been consulted and asked what they felt needed action in this area of the town. The response was that of traffic matters and dog fouling. VOSA and the DVLA have been in the area clamping untaxed vehicles. Vehicles not roadworthy have been processed for construction and use offences as per traffic law by the roads policing unit. Leisure rangers have been out cleaning up dog foul and the work continues.
Working with the town's youth centre continues to be part of our pro-active work for young people offering courses and services over the summer holidays. This work is called MOTIV8 lead by Jackie Cooper of the youth service. It's a wide range of opportunities on offer over the summer holidays which the NST will support.

NST News...
Haywards Heath NST
We welcome PCSO Sarah Macknamara to the NST, she will be working in the Bentswood Ward with PCSO Becky Standing and PCSO Christian Preece will be covering the Heath Ward now. Four multi-agency events are being planned for children on Barn Cottage Green during August to include football, a pets day, circus skills, DJ, and Aerobics. Becky organized a very successful charity football match - Sussex Police V the Mayflower at Hanbury Football Stadium. There was an excellent turn out of over 200 spectators. In total £685.00 was raised for The Yews, Boltro Road for the 0 - 5 Special Needs Playgroup and the Domestic Violence drop-in sessions. Unfortunately the NHW schemes in the Bentswood Ward have collapsed due to a lack of area and street coordinators. We would very much like to encourage the revival of the schemes and for others to be initiated.
Following anti-social behaviour including vandalism and arson at the derelict buildings in Southdowns Park residents are keen to start up a NHW scheme with the help of PCSO Stephen Low.
Scrap metal thefts and fuel thefts have been dramatically increasing across all areas. Please be vigilant and report any suspicious activities.
Operation Greenstripe is to try and combat shed /outbuilding thefts. Free tamper-proof labels are available at Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill front offices to security mark lawn mowers etc. PC Geoff Bennett has been out cycling around the rural areas, and as part of his patrol has been advising farms about the security of their outbuildings.
We are planning to do Operation Beatsweep in the Heath Ward at the end of July / beginning of August, whereby people are surveyed to establish the most common problems, which affect their quality of life and we target those problems over the course of a week in conjunction with a number of agencies.

NHW Search Team North Sussex

A recent search training day proved to be quite a dramatic occasion. On arrival at the location at Angmering Park the search was changed to an operation seeking a person who had been missing since January (details confidential). Later in the morning news came through of the need for urgent assistance for a missing person situation at Fletching.
The North team together with members of the newly formed East Sussex team regrouped at Fletching and after about an hour searching mainly open fields, one of the teams discovered the body of the missing person in a wooded gully. A sad ending, but once again showing the value of the volunteer 'footsoldiers' that were able to aid the police in this special work.
Volunteers as still needed and training is given, but you will need to be willing to tackle searching over a variety of terrain and sometimes in adverse weather conditions. For further information see website - www.nsst.org.uk - or e-mail to: