NEW community crime watch groups in Grotton, Springhead and Lees are helping to support the areas and prevent crime just eight weeks after being formed.
Alicia Marland, committee member of Grotton Residents Association, organised a meeting at Grotton Pavilion in January to set up the initiative following a spate of burglaries in the areas.
About 30 members of the community were in attendance as well as Saddleworth Neighbourhood Police Team’s Sergeant Paul Heap and PC Jonny Marsden.
And since then even more people have got involved and joined the WhatsApp group chats to form a network of eyes and ears across the community.
They can quickly alert neighbours of any suspicious activity or crimes, raise awareness and promote vigilance to deter criminal activity.
Alicia said: “It is only eight weeks since the three new crime watch groups were created and they have already made an impact.
“Through leaflet dropping, local newspapers, social media adverts and even an interview on Oldham Community Radio the number of members has steadily grown and new residents are being added each day.
“It’s been a fantastic response and it is encouraging that communities want to work together to build a network across each village.
“In doing this we can reach out to neighbours and alert each other to suspicious activity and crimes, raise awareness and promote vigilance to deter criminals.”
Success came within just two weeks of launching for the Grotton group as a resident noticed a high powered car with no plates abandoned in their street.
Photos of the car were shared and as the police are in the WhatsApp group, they were despatched to the car’s location within a few minutes and it was then seized as they confirmed it had been stolen the previous evening.
Alicia added: “While there has been success, sadly there are still criminal activities reported to me on a daily basis so it’s vital the community continues to be vigilant and ensure their homes and possessions are always secure.
“Basic home security checks such as locking all windows and doors, leaving on a security light or ensuring no valuables are visible in your car are just some of the small steps residents can take to improve their security.
“The police have often told me that criminals are opportunistic so will try car doors on the off chance that one may have been accidentally left unlocked.”
The Lees group has a member who is a locksmith so offers free home security checks to all members.
Alicia said: “These groups couldn’t run without the support of the admin teams so a huge thank you to every one of them.
“More initiatives are being reviewed and one of the Grotton team is looking to expand the security assistance we can provide to people.
“A bid is being prepared for a grant from GMP to support more crime prevention resources which may enable us to purchase security devices for residents to place on their doors and windows.
“I’m really excited that this is just the start of these groups. They will continue to grow and really make a difference to tackling local crime.”
The groups mirror similar ones in Greenfield and Friezland, Diggle, Dobcross, Denshaw, Scouthead and Austerlands, with the hope that every Saddleworth village will eventually have one.
• If you are interested in being part of one of the crime watch WhatsApp groups, please email your name, address, postcode and if you have CCTV to one of the following:
– grottoncrime@gmail.com
– springheadcrime@gmail.com
– leescrime@gmail.com
• To report a crime, call 999 in an emergency, call 101 in a non-emergency or go on the GMP website to report it: www.gmp.police.uk
