One year after the introduction of the Village Watch Scheme in North District, OFFBEAT accompanied Sheung Shui Division's DVC Rod Colson and some of his officers through the narrow streets of Sheung Shui Heung to see just how successful the campaign has been . . .

"WHEN the Village Watch Scheme began in January 1997, three villages joined. Sheung Shui Heung (which consists of nine villages) joined next with Tim Tam Leng following. That's a total of 13 villages so far," says DVC Colson as he and his officers are greeted by villagers who stop to chat.

Mr Colson, a firm believer in the benefits of the scheme, also enquires whether they have received the Village Watch Scheme brochure pack which contains local police and emergency phone numbers, crime report forms, a detailed booklet on the scheme, and illustrated crime prevention tips, especially on making one's residence burglar-proof.

"The District Fight Crime Committee came up with a sticker resembling a mobile phone that can be affixed near a telephone on which is printed the numbers of all the police stations in the area," he says. "Since those were distributed instances of villagers reporting crimes ¡Ð especially burglaries ¡Ð has gone up dramatically. The villagers are also calling and telling us they're seeing Illegal Immigrants. We're working very closely with the Quick Response Force and getting a lot of arrests as a consequence."Ó

The campaign also involves placing "Village Watch Scheme" signboards to identify participating villages at their various entrances. Once the signs are up residents tend to keep more of a watchful eye on the area and become more aware of crime matters. This enhanced co-operation also enables police to better deploy resources when problems occur in a village.

As part of the scheme, each village elects a representative to maintain close liaison and contact with the local Neighbourhood Police Community Officer who exchange crime information and crime prevention advice on a regular basis.

Said Sheung Shui Division Chief Inspector Li Kwok-ki: "The local Neighbourhood Police Community Officers also assist residents in marking and recording details of valuable property to deter theft, and keep close contact with village representatives and meet the villagers at least once per month. Crime Prevention talks are delivered during these meetings.

A feed back system is maintained with items of interest submitted to the DVC who then consolidates it into a quarterly report.

Sheung Shui Heung's village representative is Kan Shek-lun. Indeed, the majority of Sheung Shui Heung residents are surnamed Kan. An avid golfer, Mr Kan is very enthusiastic about the Village Watch Scheme because he too sees the benefits in terms of a reduction in crime and increased security as a result of close co-operation between police and villagers.

"Things are changing rapidly in our area," he said. "Where there once was an agricultural community, now stand developed, densely-packed three-storey houses. We are situated close to the boundary with the mainland and often people come here illegally. They have no jobs, so to survive they turn to crime. By working closely with the police we can help prevent our village from becoming a target. Since we're joined the scheme the villagers are getting to know the police quite well. That is a positive development.Ó

Says DVC Colson: "Our objective is to improve communications between the villagers and police. We're working with our District Fight Crime Committee and the villagers in an effort to get the residents to change some of their old established traditions. In the past they tended to keep everything inside the village, and as a result crime didn't get reported. They tried to 'fix' things themselves. With the sheme we're trying to break that down. And it's beginning to work.