The Love Your Doorstep Community Patrol is entering a new chapter this September as the volunteer-led initiative begins working much more closely with Enfield Council’s Community Safety Team and wider community safety partners.
The partnership follows a series of positive meetings between Love Your Doorstep Community Patrol and Enfield Council’s Community Safety Team, looking at how the established volunteer network can become more joined-up with the wider work already taking place to help reduce robbery and keep communities safer across the borough.
The Community Patrol was established in Enfield Town in 2019 following concerns around robberies involving young people travelling home from school.
The concept is simple: trained local volunteers provide a highly visible and reassuring adult presence in key locations during the after-school period, generally between 3.15pm and 4.30/5pm.
Since then, the initiative has grown considerably, with more than 200 people registering with the scheme over the years and the model expanding beyond Enfield into other areas of London.
Now, after considerable work behind the scenes, the Enfield patrol will be working much more closely with the Council’s Community Safety Team.
A more joined-up approach
As part of the developing partnership, Community Patrol will become more closely connected to the wider network of partners working to improve community safety across Enfield.
This will include closer communication, appropriate information sharing, access to training opportunities, greater links with the Council’s CCTV operation and opportunities for volunteers to support wider partnership activity at various points throughout the year.
Representatives from Community Patrol recently visited Enfield 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 the future, particularly when volunteers witness or become aware of incidents while out in the community.
The organisations are also exploring how communications between teams can become more joined-up, including looking at the radio systems used by Community Patrol.
Growing Enfield's volunteer network
A major part of the partnership will focus on recruiting more local people to Community Patrol.
Enfield Council will be supporting volunteer recruitment through its communications channels, while the Community Patrol team will continue to manage volunteer enquiries, onboarding, DBS checks, safeguarding, Codes of Conduct, training and deployment.
The Council has already worked with the patrol on a new video filmed during July, which is due to be released in September to help raise awareness of the scheme and encourage more residents to get involved.
Working together to reduce robbery
Enfield Town's regular Community Patrol will continue as normal, operating Monday to Friday during term time from approximately 3.15pm until 4.30/5pm.
Alongside this, volunteers will have opportunities at various points throughout the year to support wider partnership activity in targeted areas, bringing different community safety teams together to create a strong and visible presence.
Emma Rigby BEM BCAhons, Founder of Love Your Doorstep Community 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.
“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 Leader of Enfield Council, Cllr 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.”
The Community Patrol returns in September
The Community Patrol will return to Enfield Town on Wednesday 2 September, coinciding with the start of the new school year for many local pupils.
The first few weeks of September are particularly important for the patrol, as new Year 7 pupils begin travelling independently to and from secondary school.
Volunteers will be out in their familiar high-visibility clothing, introducing themselves and helping younger pupils understand who the patrol volunteers are and that they can approach them if they ever need help.
Residents who would like to become part of Community Patrol are encouraged to register their interest.
Volunteers do not need a background in policing or community safety. The scheme is about ordinary members of the community giving some of their time to provide a reassuring adult presence and look out for local young people.
To be part of something positive that helps create real change in Enfield, come and join a taster patrol.
