Future directions... the next five years

Our Council has already undertaken a number of community-based projects in particular the safety audits.

To encourage closer working relationships between the community and relevant authorities, schools in the Council's area have been invited to consider working with the Council to establish "School Safety Committees". These would provide the opportunity to combine resources together to address issues such as local ownership of and responsibility for school road safety and property protection, the latter in lieu of the successful "SchoolWatch" programme.

This provides the opportunity to develop greater understanding of the role and effectiveness of community policing and the responsibility of the community in achieving a "safe and secure" local environment. Working with schools provides an opportunity to work with several different generations and creates opportunities for projects within the school curriculum.

Given the role of the Councils as described in the Fitzgerald Report, and having established that the potential as proposed in the report can and does produce results, a concerted effort to gain greater public commitment from both the police and the government appears to be an important if not essential project for this Council, with its established record and wide community support, to undertake with an expectation of success.

Government and police public commitment and support for the Councils, funding to minimise personal costs, and a state secretariat and state conferences would seem essential elements.

A guide to the setting up of new Councils and an assistance programme for them would seem essential to expansion of the Councils into new areas. Our Council is proposing to establish co-ordination meetings (perhaps twice a year) with other Councils in the region.

A programme to increase community expectations and confidence in police response and performance is, in the Councils experience, essential to further successful adoption of an increased community role and responsibility in community policing.