Neighbourhood Watch gets baby boomer boost
Neighbourhood Watch has just celebrated its 25th anniversary in Victoria, with senior police claiming that baby boomers would ensure the ongoing success of the crime-stopping program.
The head of the Victoria Police strategic support division, Supt Bill De Bruyn said that baby boomers nearing retirement were becoming increasingly involved with the concept.
“We are finding Neighbourhood Watch is changing with the times, and adapting to the requirements of the community.”
Today the program covers a million homes and half of Victoria’s population in 1,040 areas and has around 25,000 active volunteers.
As well as operating in normal neighbourhoods, it has been successfully introduced at several Melbourne hospitals and at the University of Melbourne.
New Neighbourhood Watch president, John Dowdle, said that volunteers now wanted to help cut down on new crimes such as computer scams, petrol station drive-offs, and thefts of GPS units from cars.
