The information on this web
page has been provided from a factsheet from the Community Safety Branch of
Durham Constabulary.
Community Safety
The objective of the Community Safety Branch for
Durham Constabulary is to make Durham County a safer place in which to live,
work and invest.
This is done in partnership with many agencies, including both district and
local authorities and voluntary organisations.
Keep Them Out!
There are many ways of working towards safer
communities.
One of the most important is what is known as Target Hardening.
This means making premises physically secure so as to make it as difficult as
possible for persons to break in.
The fear of crime is sometimes a bigger problem than actual crime itself, and
improving the physical security of someone's home, place of business or even
vehicle can go a long way towards reducing that fear.
There are many types of physical security from simple window locks through to
expensive CCTV systems.
Advice on all aspects of physical security can be obtained from your local
Crime Prevention Officer at the telephone numbers listed below.
Neighbourhood Watch
Another very important and useful community
safety tool is Neighbourhood Watch.
Briefly Neighbourhood watch is about the
people in a community getting together to look after their area, and to try and
reduce crime and disorder within that area.
Residents are asked to act as the eyes and ears of the police, and are
encouraged to report any suspicious incidents to them.
Residents know who normally visits their streets, what cars are normally parked
there.
So they are in a much better position to know when strangers are in
their midst.
Members of Neighbourhood Watch Schemes are given all the crime prevention
advice they require, and statistics prove that as a general rule, the crime
rates fall within areas where Neighbourhood Watch operates.
Every Police Division in County Durham has a dedicated NHW Co-ordinator.
For
further information, contact your local police station.
The Youth Action Approach
This approach is a way of involving and
enabling young people to tackle crime and community safety themes.
The
approach aims to empower young people as partners in community safety.
This is
achieved through their involvement in free-standing groups based in a school,
youth organisation, or neighbourhood, in fact, any of the places where young
people meet.
Youth Action involves groups of young people who work together on initiatives
within their own areas which will improve the quality of life for them or other
members of their communities.
The main thing to consider is that the young people choose who is their group,
how the group is run and which initiatives to undertake.
They have the power.
Each group will need an adult to guide and advise them, and offer support.
It
is not the job of the monitoring adult to interfere or take over, but to be
constructive when necessary and offer guidance when it is required or asked
for.
The group may also benefit from having a police co-ordinator to offer
guidance and support to the monitoring adult and also to 'drop in' from time to
time.
In addition, the Officer will liaise with others to inform you of County
initiatives which you can take part in or other schemes which are available.
What Sort of Initiatives Can We Do?
The type of project or initiative
you can do are up to you but below are some ideas which other groups have
tackled.
Property marking, bike stamping, environmental projects such as community
areas, park areas, working with the elderly, peer-led education such as drugs
awareness or road safety, bullying projects, counselling and mentoring, outdoor
activity clubs - indeed the list is endless and YOU may have an idea which is
unique to YOUR area.
Is Money Important?
You will find at some stage that you will need to
find some money from somewhere to help with a project you are doing.
You could
come up with your own fund raising ideas or ask local companies to sponsor the
group.
You could also try the community safety department of the local
council, parish councils or the county council for help and advice of where to
get funding.
Youth action is fun and makes a difference to where you live!
For more details on any of the information listed on this web page, you can
contact your local Divisional Community Safety Unit on the numbers below:
Wear and Tees