Community crime-fighting volunteers welcome new partnership with Enfield Council

Love Your Doorstep’s community patrol scheme is now receiving backing from the council for the first time since it was launched seven years ago

Love Your Doorstep's community patrol in Enfield Town (credit Tia Talula) — Love Your Doorstep’s community patrol in Enfield Town (credit Tia Talula)

A community crime patrol run by volunteers for the past seven years has launched a new partnership with Enfield Council.

Love Your Doorstep’s community patrol has helped improve safety in town centres by providing a visible presence in the middle of the afternoon, when schoolchildren are making their way home. It was launched in 2019 after a spate of robberies targeting young people.

Now, the not-for-profit social enterprise has entered into a partnership with the council’s own community safety team and CCTV operations.

It comes after Love Your Doorstep (LYDS) held a series of “positive meetings” with the council following the change of administration after the local election, when the Conservatives took over from Labour.

LYDS founder Emma Rigby, who was awarded a British Empire Medal in 2022 thanks in part to her work establishing the patrol, said: “This feels like a really significant step forward for community patrol.

“There has been a huge amount of work behind the scenes to get us to this point, and I am delighted that we will now be working so closely with Enfield Council’s community safety team and their wider network of partners.

“Our volunteers have given thousands of hours of their own time over the years because they care about our young people and our community. What we have always wanted is for that community effort to be properly joined up with the organisations working to keep Enfield safe.”

Representatives from LYDS recently visited the council’s CCTV control centre to see first-hand how the borough’s camera network is monitored and how the team responds when incidents occur.

The visit provided an opportunity to explore how the patrol and CCTV teams can work more closely together in future, particularly when volunteers witness or become aware of incidents while out in the community.

Emma continued: “Visiting the CCTV control centre really demonstrated what could be achieved by connecting all of these different pieces together.

“The regular Enfield Town patrol isn’t changing – our volunteers will still be out there after school as they always have been – but there will now be a much stronger network around them.

“Most importantly, we want to grow. There are so many people in Enfield who care deeply about their community, and we’d love more of them to come and join us.”

The LYDS community patrol was originally established in Enfield Town, where children from several nearby schools converge on weekday afternoons, but has since expanded into other town centres as well, with more than 200 patrol volunteers registered in total.

The new partnership will focus on recruiting even more volunteers, with the council supporting the patrol through its communications channels.

Council leader Alessandro Georgiou said: “Making Enfield safer takes all of us working together.

“When I became leader of Enfield Council I promised to work with residents for a better Enfield. I am so pleased the partnership between the community patrol, Enfield Council and our community safety partners is growing.

“The volunteers who give up their time to support their local community deserve enormous credit and a huge thank you. Their commitment is helping to make our neighbourhoods safer and stronger.

“By bringing together local residents, the council, CCTV services and community safety teams, we are taking a joined-up approach to tackling issues and preventing crime.

“We are proud to support the community patrol and look forward to helping grow its volunteer network so that, together, we can make Enfield a safer place for everyone.”

Anyone who would like to become part of community patrol is encouraged to register their interest – volunteers do not need a background in policing or community safety. For more information:
Email [email protected]
Visit loveyourdoorstep.co.uk/blog/community-coming-together-tackle-crime

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