Chairman, National Crime Prevention Council,

Acting Commissioner of Police,

Neighbourhood Watch Zone Liaison and Assistant Liaison Officers

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Good morning,

Today marksToday is the Neighbourhood Watch Zone (NWZ) Day – a day specially set aside to rerecognise the efforts of the Liaison and Assistant Liaison Officers of the Neighbourhood Watch Zones or NWZ scheme. All Like members of the you to thank for in your dedicated efforts to work with the National Crime Prevention Council and the Singapore Police Force, you play key roles, as volunteers, to endeavoured to create safe and secure neighbourhoods. Thank you.

Last year, the crime rate fell by about 14 percent as compared to the year 2000. Seizable offences fell by about 12 percent. More importantly, 50 percent of the arrests in some of the important offences were made with the help of the public – either through alerting the police to an ongoing crime, providing information on cases, or making an active arrest. This shows that your conscientious efforts in creating awareness and spreading the message of crime prevention is paying dividends.

The NWZ scheme has come a long way since it started in 1997. With 25 NWZs in the pilot phase, there are now over 560 NWZs in both HDB and private residential areas. This translates into almost 96 percent of the 589 precincts in Singapore being covered under the NWZ.

The Scheme has helped develop a network of grassroots leaders and residents who are dedicated towards crime prevention in their neighbourhoods. Residents receive crime prevention advice during house visits, crime prevention exhibitions campaigns, and bulletins and play a part in ensuring a safe and secure neighbourhood for all. It cultivates a sense of good neighbourliness and strengthens the community-Police partnership.

Furthermore, tLast but not least, the network of the NWZ serves as an avenue for offeedback who receive invaluable first-hand information from NWZ members on safety and security issues faced by the residents. . Such feedback information enables the grassroots leaders and Police to respond quickly d more quickly to addressto those concerns. Through the various activities of the NWZ, residents become sensitised to the citizen patrols and block parties, we grow to becomeneed to take active responsibility within their neighbourhoods.

We must not become complacent just because crime is declining. As low crime does not mean no crime, we should not let down our guard Our efforts to improve Singapore’s safety and security must be an on-going one. Hence, I urge all NWZ Liaison and Assistant Liaison Officers to actively participate in the Community Safety and Security Programme (CSSP). The CSSP is an excellent framework for residents to come forward and address safety and security concerns with the help of the Home Team.

In the year 2000, the NWZs implemented 78 new CSSP initiatives, organised 2,700 crime prevention activities and conducted over 87,000 joint house visits in conjunction with the Police. I am happy to note the increase last year, with 117 new initiatives implemented. There were also more than 5,000 crime prevention activities and over 100,000 joint house visits conducted.

The NWZ scheme has served us well. However, it would never have succeeded without the services of the many dedicated NWZ volunteers like yourselves. For all the hard work and the sacrifices you have made for your community, I extend to you a well-deserved "Thank You". I wish all of you an enjoyable "NWZ Day 2002".

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