Engaging technology

Cumbria Neighbourhood Watch Association (CNWA), began their Video Doorbell Project as part of Neighbourhood Watch Week in June 2019. Video doorbells allow people to remotely view and speak to anyone coming to their door, such as parcel deliveries, and can also provide visual evidence in criminal proceedings. Following a suggestion from a Board member, CNWA carried out research on their effectiveness and agreed to use them as the main feature of Cumbria’s Neighbourhood Watch Week. Cumbria Victims Support were keen to support the initiative, as well as Cumbria Police Crime Prevention staff

Describe what you did and why? The Association of Dorset Watches (ADW) runs 4 public meetings every year around the county to bring together watch members. These gatherings are designed to learn, to network and to share. In September 2019, Dorset Police were invited to give a talk and demonstration of their airborne 'helpers in the sky'. This meeting was designed for residents to hear directly from Dorset Police why they use this technology and how it helps to keep us all safe. Duration of project: 6 months in the planning - half day meeting What worked well? Two qualified Dorset Police drones

We extended the membership of the Nuneaton and Bedworth Neighbourhood Watch Association by utilising “private” Facebook groups, bringing in over 18,000 new members to bolster our exist 4,000 strong street scheme membership. This not only brought a form of Neighbourhood Watch to those currently without street scheme coverage, it also gave existing street scheme members a brilliantly efficient way of sharing information between schemes. Duration of project: Two and a half years What worked well? Setting up one Facebook group for each area of the Borough helped drive engagement, members are able

Country Eye is a free App for people living and working in the rural community in Kent; it records and disseminates information using smartphone technology. It was designed to help communities and residents in Kent to receive information and to report issues quickly and efficiently. The Country Eye team analyse the information and disseminate it as appropriate. This may include email, text or broadcast to other subscriber’s smartphones. The Country Eye app identifies the following Categories: Animal, Wildlife Crime – Hare Coursing, Poaching, Suspicious Behaviour Aviation – Low flying Aircraft

The Meadow Road Neighbourhood Watch Group in Derbyshire set up a Facebook page and quarterly Newsletter. The Facebook page is our main way of sharing information and info from local groups, Crime Alerts, Safer Neighbourhood Team alerts, etc.

Since establishing a Neighbourhood Watch WhatsApp group on our estate we have a much better means of communicating issues that arise. Many residents now feel we have a network where we can share information. We try to keep traffic on this channel down to a bare minimum so it is not constantly active as this may put people off. One or two have left the group but overall the increase in members on the group has been good. Important to establish ground rules early and to establish boundaries.

An informal, but regular, opportunity for people to get specific technical help. Also provides an appealing platform (particularly for men, being a more difficult group to engage with) to help break down the barriers of isolation, known to have severe detrimental health effects, particularly to the elderly and vulnerable.

When many of us started tenancy contracts at a new building, a couple of us formed a WhatsApp group to give and get support. We perhaps started with 4 members and now have at least 40 or more. And the funny thing is that most of us old tenants have finished with our tenancy contracts and moved on but still haven’t left the support group.

Describe your best practice Having an open web blog is a first information point for many who want to get inspired to take part in Tower Hamlets Neighbourhood Watch groups and allows people to read about public events and significant information important to them. What did you do and why? I started a web blog years ago to allow people to see that there are Neighbourhood Watches in Tower Hamlets. It is a good starting point for residents to get involved and find out where to contact and how to get information. This has become especially important during the cut-back of Safer Neighbourhood