Street Watch looks to keep expanding (From Swindon Advertiser)

Street Watch looks to keep expanding

12:00pm Tuesday 7th February 2012 in News By Scott D'Arcy

Parks Street Watch team, from left,Terry Hayward, Ran Gurung, Til Pun, Som Sahi, Tika Gurung and Bal Pun

MORE volunteers are being sought for a community eyes-and-ears scheme which has proved succesful in areas in the town.

Street Watch has been gathering strong support in the Parks area, the first established in the town, and now a Kingshill group has been set up to patrol the neighbourhood and share information with the police.

A national initiative, Street Watch operates through volunteers working with their neighbourhood policing teams to provide a visible presence and reduce the fear or perception of crime.

Simon Evans, anti-social behaviour manager at Swindon Council, said it was hoped the project would roll out across the town.

“The process is going well and Kingshill has just launched. They are starting to work well with the neighbourhood policing teams and often go on patrol with them,” he said.

“We are looking to do it across all areas of Swindon and there has been some interest in Redhouse and Abbey Meads, but it can be any area.

“Even if you are walking your dog, just stick a high-visibility vest on and help out. Volunteers can just log on to the website and report what they see.

“The Parks group has reported lead thefts and that ties into the major police operation around the issue.

“Also, the fact that people are walking around and are visible gives people confidence.”

Terry Hayward, who heads up the Parks group, said Street Watch was the future.

“We have to clean things up and report what we see to the police. The anti-social people are taking advantage of the things they hear in the news, things like cuts to the police and cameras being taken away.

“It’s not there to turn family against family but to enable people to tell the anti-social that they won’t get away with it.”

For more information on Street Watch contact the Swindon Community Safety Partnership on 01793 466506 or email csp@swindon.gov.uk