Members of the community are being urged to help combat crime with the re-launch of the Island's Neighbourhood Watch programme tomorrow.

Community beat officer P.c. Tracy Hannah has helped to organise a general meeting of members, but is hopeful that many more residents will turn out and take an active role in the crime-fighting group.

"Unfortunately, we have seen a decline in Neighbourhood Watch over the years, and we are about to re-launch it with the aim of getting as many people in Bermuda involved," said P.c. Hannah.

"I think one of the reasons for the decline is that that the Police has maybe not done its part in maintaining Neighbourhood Watch. However, I also think that sometimes Neighbourhood Watch groups are established when specific problems arise, but, once they are resolved, then the group seems to disintegrate.

"We want people to use Neighbourhood Watch as a spring board to improving the area they live in and getting to know their neighbours better.

"People may not have specific problems now, but setting up a Neighbourhood Watch group can prevent issues from arising."

P.c. Hannah said with the clocks just going back and Christmas on the approach, it was the perfect time to encourage people to get more involved in combating crime and keeping anti-social behaviour out.

She said house burglaries were on the rise, and property crime was typically a big problem at this time of year, and people had to be more vigilant than ever over their neighbourhoods.

And the officer said the idea of Neighbourhood Watch was to encourage residents to not only look after their own property, but also to keep a watchful eye on neighbouring properties.

"In revitalising Neighbourhood Watch, we want to offer residents a more personalised style of policing, where we work in partnership with them to make their area more safe and crime-free," said the community beat officer.

"The Police is the first to admit that we cannot do everything alone, so want to empower residents. We can work together very well. We can each provide information and advice to each other.

"But it is not only crime we are dealing with; We look to improve neighbourhoods for residents, so if they want better lighting we can advise them who to talk to about that, or it may be better public transport or whatever. We can put residents in contact with the right departments.

"Neighbourhood Watch can provide a better sense of community in so many ways."

P.c. Hannah said residents in the Salt Kettle area of Harbour Road set up a group a while ago and have never looked back since.

She said if incidents are reported in the area, members of the Neighbourhood Watch group are contacted by Police and they have a network set up where the message is passed on to all residents.

And she said the Community Beat Officers carry cell phones at all times, so residents always had an immediate point of contact with the Force.

She added: "Salt Kettle is a great example of how these groups can work. We are hoping to see a lot more groups set up after the re-launch tomorrow.

"We are encouraging as many people to come out as possible so they can find out more. Everyone has a part to play in making the Island as safe and pleasurable as possible. The responsibility does not belong to just one individual or one group."

* All residents are invited to attend the meeting tomorrow night at 6.30 p.m. at the Police Recreation Club, at Police Headquarters, in Prospect.

For more information, people can call the Community Beat Officers on 299-4513, or P.c. Hannah on 515-0970.