Handsworth Wood Councillor Narinder Kooner s calling on police to ‘do their bit’ and provide funding for a Neighbourhood Watch team she has formed in her local ward.
Cllr Kooner’s idea is to set up a Neighbourhood Watch in the area after a spate of burglaries in the area. .
Cllr Kooner, who is also a resident of Handsworth Wood, said: “We want Handsworth Wood to be a no-go area for criminals.
“We want criminals to know that if you come in this area you’re being watched, and you will get caught.”
“There has been a couple of arrests, they’ve seen people attempting to commit crimes, one person caught in back garden, trying to use garden as escape route,” she added.
There has also been fewer instances of residents being ‘rushed’ at their doors by criminals posing as professionals.
Having seen the response from local residents, Cllr Kooner said she felt privileged to be a part of a community that would come together, despite their differences, to tackle crime.
She said: “I feel humbled to be in a community where they are coming together like this, because not all communities would do that. I feel privileged to be their councillor to be honest.
“I was born and bred in this area, I went to schools in this area, I own a business in this area. This is our area. ”
Cllr Kooner also added that she will be heading out with the team to patrol herself.
“I intend to be one of the street watch people that are trained up because I said to them, I’m not doing this just in my remit as a councillor, I’m doing this because I am a resident just like the rest of you, I’m concerned.
“It’s about saying ‘I’m going to look out to make sure nothing else happens in my area’.
“Because it might be happening to your neighbour today, but you never know it could be you they strike on tomorrow.”
“I want the Chief Constable to do his bit, and the police to do their bit,” she explained.
“You’ve got a community that are stepping up.
“We’ve lost our community support officers, that were making themselves visible and deterring them from crime, now the community is doing that what can you do to support them and make it clear this is an area that’s being patrolled.
“I want to get funding to make it more visible that we are on watch, signage on the vehicles or jackets or something on the lampposts or stickers in houses.
“It would be an effective use of funds if we were able to do something to show this is an area that’s being watched.”
Cllr Kooner has arranged for her Neighbourhood Watch team to be trained by police on Thursday, February 22. The crimefighters will then know exactly what they can and can’t do when out on patrol.
