HELP US: Griffith residents are calling for the return of Neighbourhood Watch following a spate of break-ins across the city.
GRIFFITH residents are calling for the return of Neighbourhood Watch following a spate of break-ins across the city.
More than 55 burglaries were recorded in Griffith in December and the alarming trend continued into January.
The Neighbourhood Watch program relied on people in the community to keep an eye open for suspicious activity and report it.
Those involved would meet regularly with police to discuss crime patterns and prevention.
Merrigal Street resident Leonie Eveille, who was the victim of an attempted break-in in December, said the time was right for the return of the program.
“Neighbourhood Watch was excellent while we had it and it seems there have been more and more break-ins since it disappeared,” Ms Eveille said.
“A lot of people do still keep a lookout in their neighbourhood but it is good to have an organised plan to look out for each other.
“We should be doing everything we can to help. People work hard for what they have and they don’t want it taken away.”
No corner of the city has been left untouched by break-ins in the past two months.
Residents also reported slashed tyres, car thefts and property stolen from vehicles.
Griffith PCYC manager Kym Neal believed Neighbourhood Watch would have an impact on the prevalence of crime.
“I think we should ramp it back up - bring back the stickers on letterboxes, the community meetings and the communication between neighbours,” Ms Neal said.
“Where I live, we make a point of letting each other know if we see anything and just keeping that communication open but it would be good to put it on a larger scale within the community.
“The meetings with police were invaluable - they would go through the trends and what police were tracking so people knew what to look out for.”
Neighbourhood Watch still exists in a more casual format than in the 80s and 90s but members are no longer active in holding meetings and keeping up-to-date on community issues.
Councillor Anne Napoli supported the push for the revival of the original program.
“I think anything we could do as a community to minimise or prevent this kind of intrusion into lives and homes would be good,” Cr Napoli said.
“It would need to be done properly, working with police and agencies within the proper guidelines. ”