Safer neighbourhoods

There are many things you and your community can do to make your neighbourhood safer. Neighbourhood Watch groups have repeatedly shown the way.

Every community is different and each has its own specific requirements when it comes to safety. Neighbourhood Watch groups succeed by taking a clear-eyed look at the needs in their areas and responding with intelligent, targeted and often innovative solutions.

Making your neighbourhood safer is partly about increasing security, but it’s also about reducing the incentive to commit crime. Neighbourhood Watch groups work on both aspects. They initiate security measures and also work to make their neighbourhoods pleasant and friendly places where crime is less likely to happen.

Security measures can include no cold calling zones, key holder schemes, home security improvement drives and even architectural alterations to reduce the potential for crime and anti-social behaviour on estates.

The Child Rescue Alert is a partnership between the police, the press and the public. Its aim is to locate abducted children and bring them to safety by using the media to promptly publish details about an abducted child's disappearance to the public. You can read more about the Child Rescue Alert here.

Initiatives for community spirit can include street parties, communal planting and clean-up days, organised activities for young people, community noticeboards, newsletters and workshops.

To read in more detail about what Neighbourhood Watch groups do to increase safety in their communities, have a look at our case studies.