British call out the vigilantes

Press, 21 January 1984, Page 15

British call out the vigilantes

By

CHARLES FRASER

Features International

A family doctor on night-call, recently cruising a quiet, tree-lined road of London suburban homes, noted the house numbers in the light of his torch. Moments after pulling up to check the address, a neighbour was tapping on the car window demanding to know his business. The road, in a prime area for burglars, is now manned round the clock by residents who have banded together to protect their property. Householders, fed up with being the victims of crime, are now fighting back. They make up night patrols, they challenge strangers in the street, and they guard their homes with an arsenal of sophisticated crime prevention equipment. For most would-be burglars, the sight of a notice proclaiming, “Warning — Neighbourhood Watch Area,” is now enough to send him or her away in search of easier prey.

Police, unable to cope with Britain’s rising tide of unsolved

break-ins, are delighted with the success of the scheme now sweeping both urban and rural areas. They claim that home-raids, have been virtually wiped out in some districts. “These schemes are an effective weapon against the burglar,” says a crime prevention officer. “They can operate anywhere — from high-rise flats to council estates and country villages.” Break-ins have dropped dramatically in the two months since a neighbourhood watch started on stockbroker belt homes in Northwood, Middlesex. The elegant, $500,000 houses, overlooking an exclusive golf club, were the target of a dozen raids in the same period 12 months ago. Now the figure has dropped to one. The scheme was started by a businessman, Philip Poulton, vic-

tim of a $20,000 break-in, who first saw it in operation in Florida. Sixty-five volunteers agreed to help. They strengthened the vigilante scheme by getting residents on the luxury estate to mark all their valuables in ultra-violet ink and advertise the fact with window stickers.

A burglary takes place in Britain once every 90 seconds, night and day, and every home has a one-in-three chance of being picked as a target.

The Home Office, the police, and the insurance companies have spent considerable time and money tryifig to make the public more security conscious. But, according to a survey conducted by the insurance company, Legal and General, much of the advice goes unheeded.

Up to 16 per cent of householders

do not even bother to bolt their doors at night, and one in four leaves windows open. Losses in Britain run to $l5O million a year, yet 25 per cent of households do not have contents insurance. The British Insurance Association welcomes neighbourhood watch schemes which are now being introduced to London by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Kenneth .Newman.

Last year it made 130 grants to crime-conscious, self-help groups towards the cost of ultra-violet pens, security chains, and switches which control house lights when the owner is away. “Burglars depend on not being seen,” says a spokesman, “they don’t like vigilantes one little bit.” In St Helens, Lancashire, a pioneer scheme is being studied by councils from all over Britain. Every night a force of 200 “Green Berets” employed by Manpower Services, patrol the streets in vans in an all-out drive against crime. In the 18 months they have been

operating, the new "street sweepers” have brought about 150 arrests, prevented 64 fires, and cut school break-ins by 40 per cent. Vandalism and crime in empty homes and unguarded schools, libraries, and factories has been noticeably reduced.

Other local authorities are now thinking of introducing similar patrols on sprawling housing estates in industrial areas.

Rural communities are also stepping up neighbourhood protection schemes.

Evidence is growing that burglars now take pains to avoid neighbourhood watch areas. Figures show that nine out of ten break-ins are through insecure doors and windows, usually within full view of neighbouring houses. Alert, organised householders are proving to be a major deterrent and, backed by the expert advice of crime-prevention officers, there is a growing optimism that the tide of home crime could finally be on the turn.