A meeting to explore the possibility of a Neighbourhood Watch for a group of townlands outside Letetrkenny has received a huge response.
The area, which stretches from the Top of Moorefield to the Golf Course Road in Letterkenny, attracted a huge crowd of more than 200 concerned residents to the Silver Tassie Hotel on Monday night.
A further meeting to establish Neighbourhood Watch is to take place at the same venue on next Monday evening at 8.30pm.
As the crowd struggled to get inside the room it was clearly evident that this is a community determined to make their voices heard in supporting the Gardai in the battle against criminality in Donegal.
There are many such like communities on the outskirts of Letterkenny but until Monday night they had not been together on a community basis and despite living close by for a number of years, they are still strangers to each other.
The call to action had come from local man, Noel Sweeney of the Swilly Drive School of Motoring.
He expected a handful of people to come along and he was dumbfounded as the crowds just kept coming.
He explained that he took this initiative after a series of thefts and burglaries had taken place in recent months and it was time to fight back.
He organised Monday evening’s meeting in the hope that an organised approach can help to turn the tide on the criminals at a time when Garda resources are at an all-time low.
And so it was that a huge crowd attended the function room at the hotel to hear Sgt. Paul Wallace and Sgt. Eunan Walsh provide vital data and advice on how to fight back against the current crime wave sweeping across many parts of Donegal as the ever lengthening shadows of winter dominate the rural landscape.
“Crime is a community problem and we can do lots to prevent it by being aware of our own surroundings. By being involve with our own areas: by getting the young people involved and by keeping a lookout for the elderly people in all your townlands.
“It is vital to develop a sense of community through proper communications and so much can be achieved by being alert: being aware and by being good neighbours,’ said Paul Wallace at the outset of the meeting.
In a very informative PowerPoint presentation, Sgt. Wallace laid out the facts, figures for crime: prevention measures and the necessity for good community communication strategies and how to lessen the risk of thieves coming onto your property.
Many at Monday night’s meeting would be very familiar with the distinctive blue and gold Neighbourhood Watch signs which have been dotted across many roadsides in rural Ireland for almost 30 years.
Neighbourhood Watch, which started in Ireland in 1985, runs in close to 2,500 communities and villages across Ireland and Gardaí say they have seen a 30% increase in Neighbourhood Watch schemes as dormant schemes are rejuvenated and new schemes are set up by residents around the country.
The increase comes amid changing lifestyles that people in urban areas are less likely to know their neighbours than they were twenty years ago.
The reasons why the crime prevention scheme has been kick-started over the past three years could be attributed to people who have lost jobs or had working hours cut back looking to do something positive and meaningful in their neighbourhoods; to older people locked in fear behind closed doors. And to a shift in policing approaches which has seen community policing become more important to reduce crime.
Neighbourhood Watch, said Sgt. Wallace is not a replacement for the role of the Gardai but it is a means to being more alert, more vigilant and it is a way of getting to know each other in communities like those at Monday night’s meeting.
These schemes are a good way of making people feel empowered to take on the problems in their areas and while the scheme doesn’t replace policing, a large part of Neighbourhood Watch is about stopping smaller, preventable crimes by encouraging people to take actions themselves.
‘It’s about reducing and minimising opportunities for crime and encouraging people to do what they can to stop smaller crimes and it sends out a message to the criminals that every townland is on the lookout for strange behavour in their midst.
“Often, this comes down to following basic tips to stop criminals from taking advantage of an opportunity to commit a crime: not leaving valuables in clear sight in a car, for example, ensuring that house doors are locked, and leaving a light on in a house when the occupant is not there.
“It’s also about fostering a sense of community in an area. If people know each other, they’re more likely to look out for each other,” says Sgt Wallace.
Next Monday’s meeting will see a steering group formed with a framework set in motion to establish a Community Neighbourhood Watch in the area as a matte of priority.
The meeting will begin at 8.30 and those attending are being advised to come early. And while a huge crowd came along on Monday night, every household in the area is invited to be present at next week’s meeting in the Sliver Tassie because the opinion of every single family is vital in preparing an organised approach to the campaign.
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