Community wardens

The community wardens started work in January 2005 and they work in:

Chichester East and Whyke
Chichester West
Tangmere and Oving
Selsey
The Witterings

Main areas of activity

Community development and encouraging and increasing community involvement
Dealing with environmental issues (e.g. graffiti, litter, dumping, abandoned cars, dog fouling etc.) within the area by working with appropriate agencies
Working with the police, police community support officers (PCSOs) and local communities to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and fear of crime in the area including providing intelligence and evidence to the police and acting as a professional witnesses

They achieve this by:

Being based in the area
Working flexible shifts including evenings (up to 10pm) and weekends. They spend part of they week working together but also do some lone working so that they can provide seven day per week cover. Although they have an agreed forward shift pattern, they are prepared to be flexible to meet local requirements
Regular high visibility, reassuring patrolling on foot or bike
Responding to calls from the public or other agencies
Working closely with police, PCSOs, local councillors, community groups, RSLs and residents
Working closely with agencies that can deal with issues in the community
Regular visits to elderly, vulnerable etc
Working with the community and promoting community development initiatives

They do not:

Have any enforcement powers - no special criminal powers or council enforcement
Get involved in violent incidents
Take sides in disputes
Stop all crime and anti-social behaviour
Normally undertake joint patrols with PCSOs

Evaluation report

Chichester district community warden service was introduced in January 2005 as a two-year pilot scheme to determine what impact community wardens could have in selected areas.

A full report of the community warden's evaluation is available on request.