Neighbourhood Watch Schemes in Barbados are stepping up to the plate.
Faced with dwindling numbers of such schemes and daring criminals in their communities, residents across the country are re-establishing special lines of communication using technology. More importantly, they are forging stronger ties with the Royal Barbados Police Force to keep communities free of crime.
Just four years ago, it was a different story, with the police admitting that mixed results were achieved with the use of Neighbourhood Watches. At the end of 2013, a determination was made to actively review the initiative in the next operational period because of the 17 registered Neighbourhood Watches in the Northern Division, only four were active during the year, while ten of the 16 in the Southern Division were active.
Though some were active in the Bridgetown Division, the level of activity and vibrancy was dissimilar to past years, and all divisional commanders made a commitment to the resuscitation of dormant programmes.
The Sunday Sun recently spoke to the man heading the country’s community policing department as well as the presidents of two Neighbourhood Watch Schemes to find out how they are battling with the crimes of the times.
Just last year, a number of middle-class communities were bombarded by home invasions involving people claiming to represent business houses, which prompted neighbours to start chat groups.
These chat groups have now been established in almost every Neighbourhood Watch Scheme or Residents’ Association on the island, and play an integral role in real-time security of neighbourhoods.
President of the St Silas Heights Neighbourhood Watch Scheme in St James, Derrick Frederick, said chat groups, though needing to be controlled to focus on protection of the community more so than socialising, had been a godsend to safeguarding one another.
“It is the way society is going to keep in touch with one another. In some neighbourhoods a lot of people don’t know one another, but starting the programme and using the chat group to constantly let people know what is happening around them has worked,” Frederick noted.
He added that apart from identifying suspicious people in the area, chat groups also played a role in residents communicating to solve issues such as cleaning up of environs, keeping properties safe and even working together during water or power outages.
But, for sure, keeping the community safe is the main priority.
“If strangers are seen around, it works perfectly to bring that to the attention of everyone, and we can also quickly get in touch with the police,” Frederick added.
He also said using the technology could also create some issues so guidelines regarding its use had to be set.
With all schemes or residents’ associations, a partnership with law enforcement is paramount, and the Royal Barbados Police Force’s community policing department has been evolving hand in hand with neighbourhoods.
“If you see something, say something,” the department’s chief, Inspector Stephen Griffith said of their unwritten rule, noting that since 1983 when Neighbourhood Watch Schemes were first launched, that has led to success in keeping residential areas safe.
He said schemes were the way in which the force, over a 34-year period, had been able to forge strong relationships with households.
“There will never be a one-for-one police for every individual, but there must be, among neighbours, a need to have something constructive in place. Neighbourhood Watches are the eyes and ears of the community, and if you see something and say something, it is very important to us. That information can easily be turned into intelligence,” Griffith explained.
Over in Cane Garden Park, St Thomas, president of the residents’ association, Keith Browne, indicated that though their entity was only launched earlier this year, the power of technology had served a positive purpose.
But Browne said that going forward they were hoping a strong partnership with the Royal Barbados Police Force would aid in keeping them safe.
“We currently have two crime prevention officers in our area, and we hope to keep meeting with them as much as possible to hear about what is going on in the country, and things we can do to make our communities safer. We are in constant communication with the police,” he added.
A WhatsApp chat group for Cane Garden folk has also proved to be helpful, he said.
“It is still quite early for us as a group, but the chat group was started before we launched our programme. It has kept all residents abreast of anything we see and find strange, so that helps.”
To keep the community on the same hymn sheet, a panel discussion regarding the current state of crime in Barbados has also been planned for today, entitled Youth Violence In Barbados – Causes And Solutions.
A resident of Cane Garden Park, while acknowledging the active Neighbourhood Watch in that area, said what also helped her to keep connected with what was happening avenue was the WhatsApp group chat that neighbours currently have going.
“Technology has helped me to stay connected and in touch with what is happening in my community. When you work long hours and you are distracted by so many other things happening in your life and you juggle for balance, the WhatsApp message group helps me to stay in touch. So if there is a crime in the area, or there is an activity, or something that needs to be brought to the attention of neighbours, it is posted in the chat,” she added.
Inspector Griffith said Neighbourhood Watch Schemes were even more important now, with residential developments continuing to rise on Barbados’ landscape.
“The Police Force doesn’t solve crimes unless it receives information. We recognise that to police Barbados we have to work with residents across every community. Getting them on board is critical for us, and that’s why we provide backup services to help maintain Neighbourhood Watches, with things as simple as setting up signs.”
In Callenders Crescent, Christ Church, a residents’ association member said they were not as vibrant as before, but remained vigilant.
“We are not as active as we used to be . . . . But we still have three leaders in the community who are constantly keeping an eye out for their neighbours,” the resident said.
“The leaders are strategically placed at the front, centre and back-end of the development to keep us all informed, and we also have a directory which has been given to every resident. The residents who have phones also communicate through WhatsApp,” she said.
The Callenders resident said every time they met, a crime prevention officer from the Oistins Police Station was asked to attend.
Griffith revealed that lectures or information meetings are held with communities on a monthly basis, and crime prevention officers were constantly on the go.
The senior cop also explained that where communities were extremely large, block captains have been activated to communicate with the leaders of the association or scheme. (BA)
https://content.jwplatform.com/players/mpXgijCe-1Z2bUHpW.html
