In the second of two articles, Sadayeen Khan, secretary of Redbridge Neighbourhood Watch (NHW), encourages more residents to report anything suspicious
Redbridge NHW is a registered charity run by volunteers from within the community. Anyone living, working or studying in Redbridge is welcome to become a member (free).
We treat the Redbridge borough as a whole and facilitate coordinators of all wards to work within their areas. Watch coordinators can work on their roads with their related issues, including antisocial behaviour, drug dealing, criminals trying vehicle door handles and locks to watching and checking houses to potentially burgle.
Criminals do not respect geographical or political boundaries, of course, they simply look for opportunities and easy targets. For every secure-looking property, there are, unfortunately, less secure-looking properties. No longer will burglars walk out of the house with large TVs; they take small, valuable items like mobile phones, cash and precious metals. Vehicle thieves will steal small change, expensive sunglasses, branded items, or take the vehicle itself.
We encourage members to report anything suspicious to the police or through Crimestoppers anonymously. This helps authorities to gather intelligence, link crimes with evidence and leads to arrests. Much of this information is never communicated to members of the public but is available to our members.
You may have seen Neighbourhood Watch street signs on lamp posts and in the windows of properties scattered around the borough. Police crime statistics show these signs have a strong impact on lowering crimes in the areas which display them; therefore NHW members have less risk of being a victim.
To establish an NHW presence on your road, please register and show your interest, and invite your neighbours to register as well. Most of our administration is now automated, but there is still an element of the ‘human touch’.
More details about becoming an NHW coordinator are available on our website. Once established, being a coordinator only takes a few hours of your time each month. We have various vacancies dotted around the borough, so please join us and encourage your neighbours, friends, colleagues and family members to do the same.
NHW no longer advertises and we rely on word of mouth. This keeps our costs down and I am pleased to say our membership is growing by the month.
The Redbridge NHW website includes crime prevention advice, discount codes on crime prevention products and useful links to partner organisations. For more information, and to join (free), visit redbridgenhw.info
