Joint Conference 22nd October 2011

This year's Conference was a great success. Presentations by Glyn Gilfoyle of the Police Authority and Assistant Chief Constable Paul Scarrott of the County Police Force, were informative and inspirational. Both expressed strong support for the Neighbourhood Watch organisations in the City and County and made it clear that NW has an increasingly important role in reducing crime and anti-social behavior.

Mike Douglas of VISAV explained the operation and developments in the Alert System and there was general support for this innovation in communications. Fire and Rescue Chief Frank Swann joined the speakers and NW chairmen Alan Booth (County) and David Rhodes (City) to form the panel for a Q&A session. Neil Bettison managed this very well especially as it was quite provocative at times.

The current spirit of collaboration between the Police and Neighbourhood Watch, both County and City, was again self-evident and if this can be maintained, next year's Conference should be able to report further progress.