JAMES SLACK
Teams of Neighbourhood Watch members are to be asked to do jobs previously left to the police.
The civilian groups could spy on villains, patrol crime-hit estates at night and even check car tax discs.
In some cases they would form secret groups to gather intelligence.
Details of the plan are contained in a leaked memo sent to chief constables in the last few days.
It brought immediate accusations that the Government is aiming for more policing "on the cheap".
There were also fears it could lead to community tensions, with neighbour checking on neighbour.
Today the man behind the memo - Hertfordshire Chief Constable Frank Whiteley, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers - denied Neighbourhood Watch participation would ever take the place of real policing.
Twenty-three per cent of homes are members of Watch schemes but few play an active role.
Critics said it was significant that the suggestions for tapping the "unused energy and enthusiasm" of Neighbourhood Watch groups coincided with a Home Office report calling for a cut in police numbers.
Tory spokesman David Ruffley said: "Jacqui Smith's plan to cut police numbers in the next three years was bad enough.
"But now it seems she wants that gap filled by Neighbourhood Watch members taking on frontline policing duty.
"Neighbourhood Watches have done excellent work with the police but always as valued volunteers, not vigilantes.
"If Neighbourhood Watch members are to take on a bigger role it should be thought through properly, so they are not put in harm's way just for the sake of a quick Home Office headline."
Mr Whiteley's memo gives examples of how Neighbourhood Watch members could be used, by extending little-known initiatives which have been piloted locally.
These include an estate in Cleveland which was "plagued by drunken youths" who left residents afraid to go out after 5pm.
Neighbourhood Watch members were sent out to tour the estate after dark, in pairs. After a few months the yobs moved away.
Also in Cleveland, residents kept watch on the home of a suspected drug dealer, noting down descriptions of visitors and their car number plates to pass on to police.
In Sussex, residents are on standby to provide search teams if anyone goes missing.
And in Cambridgeshire, the Neighbourhood Watch teams provide information about untaxed cars parked in their streets. The information has led to the clamping of 17 vehicles, the document said.
In Bedfordshire, there are even "covert" Neighbourhood Watch groups, who do not display membership stickers in their windows.
They meet in secret to share information with the police.
In Cumbria, the Neighbourhood Watch sent letters to convicted criminals warning them not to trespass on private property.
The timing of the memo - titled Neighbourhood Watch in Context: A Strategic Tool for the Neighbourhood Policing Agenda - will be viewed as highly suspicious.
The Home Office report by Sir Ronnie Flanagan, also published last Thursday, said retaining the current number of fully-trained police officers was neither necessary nor financially sustainable.
The former RUC chief said many of the tasks performed by these "standing armies" - including manning police station reception desks to help distressed crime victims - should be handed to civilian staff instead.
Only 10 per cent of policing tasks require fully-trained officers, he argued.
Jan Berry, chairman of the Police Federation which represents rank-and-file officers, has warned the police could be turned into a "paramilitary force", meeting the public only in situations of confrontation.
Mr Whiteley today denied he was aiming for "policing on the cheap" - and insisted that his memo had been published several days ahead of the Flanagan report......Article conts (-)
Teams of Neighbourhood Watch members are to be asked to do jobs previously left to the police.
The civilian groups could spy on villains, patrol crime-hit estates at night and even check car tax discs.
In some cases they would form secret groups to gather intelligence.
Details of the plan are contained in a leaked memo sent to chief constables in the last few days.
It brought immediate accusations that the Government is aiming for more policing "on the cheap".
There were also fears it could lead to community tensions, with neighbour checking on neighbour.
Today the man behind the memo - Hertfordshire Chief Constable Frank Whiteley, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers - denied Neighbourhood Watch participation would ever take the place of real policing.
Twenty-three per cent of homes are members of Watch schemes but few play an active role.
Critics said it was significant that the suggestions for tapping the "unused energy and enthusiasm" of Neighbourhood Watch groups coincided with a Home Office report calling for a cut in police numbers.
Tory spokesman David Ruffley said: "Jacqui Smith's plan to cut police numbers in the next three years was bad enough.
"But now it seems she wants that gap filled by Neighbourhood Watch members taking on frontline policing duty.
"Neighbourhood Watches have done excellent work with the police but always as valued volunteers, not vigilantes.
"If Neighbourhood Watch members are to take on a bigger role it should be thought through properly, so they are not put in harm's way just for the sake of a quick Home Office headline."
Mr Whiteley's memo gives examples of how Neighbourhood Watch members could be used, by extending little-known initiatives which have been piloted locally.
These include an estate in Cleveland which was "plagued by drunken youths" who left residents afraid to go out after 5pm.
Neighbourhood Watch members were sent out to tour the estate after dark, in pairs. After a few months the yobs moved away.
Also in Cleveland, residents kept watch on the home of a suspected drug dealer, noting down descriptions of visitors and their car number plates to pass on to police.
In Sussex, residents are on standby to provide search teams if anyone goes missing.
And in Cambridgeshire, the Neighbourhood Watch teams provide information about untaxed cars parked in their streets. The information has led to the clamping of 17 vehicles, the document said.
In Bedfordshire, there are even "covert" Neighbourhood Watch groups, who do not display membership stickers in their windows.
They meet in secret to share information with the police.
In Cumbria, the Neighbourhood Watch sent letters to convicted criminals warning them not to trespass on private property.
The timing of the memo - titled Neighbourhood Watch in Context: A Strategic Tool for the Neighbourhood Policing Agenda - will be viewed as highly suspicious.
The Home Office report by Sir Ronnie Flanagan, also published last Thursday, said retaining the current number of fully-trained police officers was neither necessary nor financially sustainable.
The former RUC chief said many of the tasks performed by these "standing armies" - including manning police station reception desks to help distressed crime victims - should be handed to civilian staff instead.
Only 10 per cent of policing tasks require fully-trained officers, he argued.
Jan Berry, chairman of the Police Federation which represents rank-and-file officers, has warned the police could be turned into a "paramilitary force", meeting the public only in situations of confrontation.
Mr Whiteley today denied he was aiming for "policing on the cheap" - and insisted that his memo had been published several days ahead of the Flanagan report......Article conts (-)
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