PROGRAMMES .......WHAT
WE ARE DOING
SAFE PLATE
This
is a programme to reduce the number of vehicle number plates which
are stolen. Every few months, a group of volunteers, with help
from the police, assemble and replace normal number plate screws
with anti-theft screws. This significantly reduces the likliehood
of the number plates being removed and used illegally on other
vehicles or in petrol station drive through thefts.
We have secured the number plates on over 2,000
vehicles in the Ballarat area since the programme commenced. We
are curently partnering with the SES and approaching community
groups to have their members' car number plates secured.
We would like to thank Bunnings in Ballarat
for the use of their underground car park during recent months
(very handy in detrimental weather!).
BALLARAT & DISTRICT
COMMUNITY SUPPORT REGISTER
The
Ballarat & District Community Support Register is managed
by Ballarat NHW and is supported by Ballarat Police. Approved
volunteers from Neighbourhood Watch (they are required to undergo
police checks) help in the operation of the register.
A
Community support Register is a record of a person's details which
can be accessed in an emergency.It
gives you confidence that if you are unable to provide information
(say, due to accident or illness) your medical details and who
to notify are readily available to relevant authorities. Your
records will not be made available to any other person or organisation
except Police, Ambulance, Hospital or Fire Brigade, and then only
after the approval of a senior Police Officer. more
PARK SMART

This is a campaign to encourage everyone to lock
their cars and remove their valuables. An unlocked car is an easy
target for thieves. Most car thefts, and thefts of belongings
in cars are opportunistic. If it is easy and quick to steal, then
it is an even greater temptation. Thieves see valuables left in
unlocked cars as an invitation
Police reports show that most thefts of and from
parked cars occurs when cars are left unlocked and valuables are
left in the car (often in full view).
Ultimately, the safety of a car and its contents
rests with the driver. Locking the car and removing any valuables
goes a long way towards preventing car theft and theft from cars.
Consequently, we have embarked on a programme
of educating car owners to leave their car locked and remove their
valuables.
We do this by raising awareness through distribution
of leaflets, articles in our local newsletters, articles in the
local media and also promoting the park smart message at shopping
centres and train stations. These promotions involve a group of
volunteers, with help from the police, handing out free shopping
bags carrying the Park Smart message. Park Smart stickers are
also displayed on parking meters and wheelie bins in main thoroughfares.
DON'T
KNOCK CAMPAIGN

Are you sick of salespeople door knocking your home? Do you have
elderly relations who have been taken advantage of by door to
door salespeople.
Did you know that where a “Do Not Knock” sticker,
is affixed to a front door, it is illegal for a sales representative
to knock on the door.
If you have a Do Not Knock sticker clearly displayed in front
of your house, and a salesperson knocks on your door, you should
complain about their conduct.
NHW Ballarat is becoming involved in this program in response
to many requests from our own members.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE SUPPLIES OF THESE STICKERS. 50 cents each,
just to cover the cost of printing. Get some now.
Contact us
further
information
LETTERBOXING HOTSPOTS
Where police analysis shows a hotspot of criminal activity, we
supply volunteers to letterbox these areas. The aim is to promote
awareness of crime prevention and safety measures and encourage
reporting of suspicious activies. Every report helps put together
the puzzle, just like a jigsaw. It may be that a particular report
is the key to apprehending a criminal.
If you would like to help either in your own neighbourhood or
anywhere in the Ballarat area, please contact us. This is an occasional
activity depending on police requests for help.
PROMOTE CRIME PREVENTION
To achieve this, we aim to educate the community about ways to
reduce the possibility of being a victim. This is an eduation
programme and we approach it several ways. This web site contains
information, as does our facebook page on how to make yourself
less of a target. We also utilise the local media and newsletters
to this end. We ake part in displays promoting home and personal
safety. Our Coffee Club promote crime prevention and maintaisn
a relationship with supporters who are unable to participate in
our activities.
SAFER COMMUNITIES
The
safer communities programme is a partnership between the community
and the police. NHW Ballarat has recently remodelled and now covers
all residents in the Ballarat Police Service Area. We seek community
involvement by having our meetings open to all residents in the
area.
We seek to provide feedback to the police about the concerns
of residents. What concerns you in the community at the moment?
Street violence,? Hoon driving? Too much alcohol? So that the
local police may be informed on what they need to address when
they draw up their Annual Action Plans, all residents are welcome
to come to our meetings and discuss them or let us have a few
succint thoughts on paper so that your concerns can be passed
on to those who are in a position to act on them. Your thoughts
are valued. Recently at a Ballarat wide meeting, we held a survey
to determine those issues which we, as residents of the area,
view as important. This was then submitted to the Ballarat police
for consideration in their Annual Action Plan. An example was
street safety, and there has now been an increased focus on this
by the Ballarat police.
A perfect forum to bring concerns about crime and safety in the
Ballarat community to the attention of those who care.
safer communities - a partnership between
the community and the police
