Revamp urged for county watch schemes after crime rate rises

New figures in a report to be presented to the North Yorkshire Police Authority (NYPA) next week show crime is on the rise in the county for the first time in seven years after 1,200 more offences were recorded between January and March this year compared with 2010, an overall increase of 0.5 per cent.

The force, currently making millions of pounds of savings in the face of savage Government cuts, has described the increase as “ultimately a disappointing position”.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last month that crime had spiralled by more than 15 per cent in Harrogate, 13 per cent in Selby and six per cent in York in the first five months of this year compared with the same period in 2010.

Now the NYPA report, by North Yorkshire Police head of community safety Insp Bob Mowat and Yorkshire Dales Insp Nigel Slater, recommends an overhaul of the way neighbourhood watch teams operate to help bring a halt to the crimewave.

NYPA member and deputy leader of North Yorkshire County Council Carl Les said: “There is certainly a need and there has been for a while to assess how we support neighbourhood watch. There is a big disparity across the county on the success of schemes.

“As ever with voluntary organisations dependent on individual contributions you will get patchy results.

“It is an extremely important part of police intelligence gathering and I am a member myself.

“And as the police cuts bite this sort of community policing is going to be as important as ever.

“There is an opportunity here to make sure we reaffirm our commitment to neighbourhood watch and do all we can to help it.”

The report claims the North Yorkshire Neighbourhood Watch Association, which covers 10 districts across the county, is suffering from a lack of dedicated support, communication, engagement, and knowledge and understanding of roles between members, the police and the NYPA.

It also says a police database which holds the details of more than 11,000 neighbourhood watch members has become neglected and unreliable.

The recommendations include enhanced relationships with members, better storing of information and mapping of crime hotspots.

It also suggests better levels of support to neighbourhood watch schemes as highlighted by the Association of Chief Police Officers in a recent letter to police chief constables across the country.

The area co-ordinator for Scarborough Town Centre Neighbourhood Watch, Adrian Dolan, said the scheme has been in decline over the past 18 years and an overhaul was needed.

“There has been a decline in membership,” he said.

“Eighteen years ago we had more than 1,000 members and only 10 years ago I had 25 street co-ordinators which I used to oversee – now there are three.

“Neighbourhood watch was set up by the Government to help residents, especially vulnerable and elderly ones.

“It is getting too political.”

Keith Roberts, the 71-year-old chairman of Harrogate and District Neighbourhood Watch – one of the most successful schemes in the county – and founding chairman of North Yorkshire Neighbourhood Watch, said: “There is a lot that neighbourhood watch can do to tackle this rise in crime.

“We have a huge force of volunteers all with their own experience.

“We are doing more work with the police to help fill the gaps in backroom staff.”

The report is due before the North Yorkshire Police Authority on Monday.

North Yorkshire Police said they could not comment on the findings before the meeting had taken place.