By DANIELLE GALVIN
CARDINIA Shire residents are invited to attend a meeting to reinvigorate the Neighbourhood Watch Program.
Pakenham police Sergeant Frank Bodor has joined forces with resident Phil Taylor, who is a strong advocate for the program.
Mr Taylor said the group was all to do with community safety and that the Casey volunteers had been asked to come on board and help establish the group.
“It’s about keeping an eye out, working with the community,” he said.
Sgt Bodor said the program would be supported by the police but steered by the community. He said there had been smaller Neighbourhood Watch affiliations in the hills and in Heritage Springs, but the groups had tapered off and the need was still there.
“As a result there is still a need for it in the community and there are people who do want to get involved,” Sgt Bodor said.
“It has always been part of our protocol to engage in community strengthening and Neighbourhood Watch has been a part of that but for whatever reason it has fizzled out,” Sgt Boder said.
“A lot of what we could do stems from a need to know what’s going on, so it could go some way to crime prevention.”
Earlier this year, Pakenham police had been dealing with a spike in theft from unlocked cars.
“It goes in waves and troughs but recently we have had trends of increased thefts from motor vehicles, the majority being people leaving cars unlocked but it’s about getting the message out there and of course some still smash windows too,” Sgt Bodor said.
“What a program like this can do is reinforce safety and security – and that anyone can participate in the program.”
Sgt Bodor said a cross section of the community was invited to be involved in Neighourhood Watch and everyone was welcome to meetings.
He said the program also acts as a channel for the community and the police to interact, and that the more people that participated the better.
Residents are invited to attend a meeting at the Pakenham Police Station on Princes Highway on 24 July at 7.30pm.
