Staying Safe
This page and the pages supporting it (Buildings, Computers, Vehicles and Visitors) are designed to provide simple suggestions for reducing the risks of crime in your everyday life. They are not (nor should they be considered to be) a foolproof list of things to do to prevent you being the victim of crime, but following the broad guidelines should reduce your risk of being the victim of crime.
It is possibly not pleasant to mention it, but there are people out there who view our posessions as their own and would be happy to relieve us of them or damage them just in spite. To stay safe, we have to ensure such people are not encouraged to come looking, or if they do come looking, are persuaded to do their worst in some other locality.
At the end of each section are links to other websites which may help you in staying safe. Some of these are targeted at older people, but the advice they give is valuable to us all.
Please remember that we want you to enjoy living here and these suggestions are designed to reduce your liklihood of crime or anti social behaviour.
Basics
It should not need to be said but the point of Neighbourhood Watch is that all of us watch out for all of our neighbours whether they be old or young. That means taking an intelligent interest in and getting to know your neighbours, their habits and their faults. If you see (e.g.) an elderly neighbour has forgotten to lock his/her shed or garage, ring on the doorbell and tell them. If you see a younger neighbour has left his/her bicycle where it might be stolen, ring on the doorbell and tell them. Your keeping their possessions safe will help you by having someone looking out for you and at the same time reducing the attractiveness of the area to criminals and those bent on anti-social behaviour.
And who knows, through your actions, you might also make a friend!
Burglar and Car Alarms
If you have a burglar or car alarm, remember to use it. It is there to help prevent crime so make it earn it's keep. If you have an alarm that keeps going off, find out why and have it serviced/repaired - don't just turn it off. There are many car owners who have discovered that a "faulty" alarm was really the thieves tempting the owner to turn off the alarm to make it easier for them!
Please always respond to burglar and car alarms, particularly if you are a keyholder. However, do not put yourself in danger and if you feel there is anything that is not right, return to your home, lock the door and phone the Police. Indeed, when responding to an alarm, always remember to lock your own home!
Unknown Visitors or Tradesmen
Always challenge unknown visitors or tradesmen. You can normally do it by appearing to be polite ("Can I help you?") and getting the information on who they are visiting or doing work for. If you know that the neighbour is (e.g.) away on holiday don't tell the visitor but assess if they should not be there and ring the Police. Most crime is prevented by this type of pro-active challenging of unexpected visitors or tradesmen. See the section on Visitors for more information.