Not In My Neighbourhood Week

There are a number of agencies involved in helping to keep St.Helens Safe; these include Neighbourhood Policing teams, Residents and Tenants associations, members of the Safer St. Helens Crime Reduction Partnership and the Community. Over the past 6 months reports of anti-social behaviour have decreased and burglary is down by 19% (April - September 2009 compared to April - September 2008)

As part of the week-long campaign, a number of initiatives took place to engage with the local community. This included a number of crime prevention events including a 'homewatch recruitment event' at Whiston Hospital, encouraging local residents to set up HomeWatch schemes in their communities.

Additionally, ‘video diary room’ type sessions gave members of the public the chance to record their views about anti-social behaviour in The Merseyside Police anti-social behaviour Publicity Pod. Members of the Safer St. Helens partnership, including St. Helens Council and Merseyside Police could also be found at information points in Tesco and The Hardshaw Centre (Town Centre) addressing community concerns and offering crime prevention advice.

In total, partner agencies engaged with over 500 people to try and fully understand and deal with the issues and concerns that matter most in their communities. Feedback from local residents was positive and those who did have concerns were offered crime prevention advice.

In addition, plug in light timers were given away to residents as a burglary prevention measure. Although burglary in St Helens has dropped by 19% over the past six months, as the nights get darker earlier, residents are reminded that by simply using a light timer on internal lights, it will give the impression that you are at home, when you are out.

Councillor Teresa Sims, Executive Member for Safer Communities said, “Not In My Neighbourhood Week here in St. Helens was a great success. Residents were able to share their views and ultimately help to shape the way our Neighbourhood’s are policed. It is by working together with our community that we can reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in our Town.” Chief Inspector, Partnership Development Officer Mike Constantine said: "In addition to 'Not in My Neighbourhood Week', as part of a Police anti-social behaviour roadshow which has run throughout the Autumn, an interactive 'pod' has been in Portico,

St. Helens. The 'pod' has a Big Brother-style 'diary room' where local residents have been recording their views on anti-social behaviour, having their say about things that really matter, like how their neighbourhoods are policed and other things that concern them."