INTRODUCTION

 
Welcome to the first input onto the resurrected Snarestone Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. Many thanks to the Snarestone Web Site for allowing us access to their page.
 
 My name is Jim Kendrick and I live in Main Street, Snarestone and have done so for just over five years. I have a wife, Sue, and two daughters who have long since flown the nest. At fifty six years old I have reached the benefit of being able to work part time at a local distribution centre (Waitrose, Bardon) where I am a heavy goods driver. My back will confirm the fact that I have driven lorries for the past thirty-five years and think it fair to say, without boasting, that I have seen most things on the road and that nothing now surprises me. The job has changed beyond measure since I began driving and with the onset of new technology and European Regulations I cannot deny that retirement cannot come quickly enough.
 
This is the first time I have been involved in such a scheme, but felt the need after hearing and seeing recent acts of petty crime, which seem to have increased over the last six months. Now I'm not suggesting that it is like down town Baghdad in Snarestone, and I imagine that residents in other "hot spots" locally would give their collective right hand to have our problems, however I would argue that a victim is a victim no matter what the crime and that so called "petty" crime is not the end but the beginning of a pathway to much more serious crime. I would have thought that if we can recognize, deter and resolve the trend towards petty crime we have more chance of preventing worse.
 
Sadly, in the detection department, it is common knowledge that the Police are fully stretched by more serious incidents in the region and that being such a small and relatively quiet village we do not see the presence of uniformed officers through the village on a regular basis. Perhaps it might be said that in this particular instance size does matter! Therefore any assistance we might be able to give to the Police to help them identify and convict an offender must be of mutual advantage. 
 
Hence the Snarestone Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. 
 
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
 
1. To prevent crime, by improving security, increasing vigilance, creating and maintaining a caring community and reducing opportunities for crime by increasing crime prevention awareness.
 
2. To assist the Police in detecting crime by promoting effective communication and prompt reporting of suspicious and criminal activity.
 
3.To reduce undue fear of crime, particularly in the aged and venerable, by providing accurate information about risks and by promoting a sense of security and community spirit.
 
4 To improve Police/Community liaison by providing communication channels and by informing the Police of incidents when they occur.
 
5. To dissuade anti-social behaviour, vandalism, graffiti, threatening and abusive language, and such, by informing the Police promptly of incidents when they occur.
 
THE HOPE
 
That by working together as a community we might prevent and discourage criminals from being active in our village and, if need be, to report would be criminal activity, anti-social behaviour, vandalism, noise and graffiti to the Police.
 
Should anyone witness something that they feel significant to the aims of this scheme or see some Neanderthal committing an act of unruliness please do not confront the individual, we have all read of the tragic consequences that can result, in extreme circumstances, by taking such action, but rather note a description of the person, a car registration number, the hour and day of the incident, anything that might assist the Police in identifying the culprit and of course speedy report of the incident to the Police and make their job easier. 
 
To assist ourselves in these efforts and to co-ordinate and circulate any information, bulletins will be placed upon the Snarestone Neighbourhood Watch web-site link and the village notice board. I can be contacted through my E-Mail address: jimandsue.kendrick@virgin.net  or Telephone 515314.
 
The success or failure of the scheme will be reflected in the need for it.