Data Protection
The Data Protection Act provides a safeguard as to the manner
in which information concerning personal details is retained and used by
organisations.
Registration forms, which are given to you at your launch
meeting must be completed by all Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators. This
ensures they are registered under the act to receive information relating to
Neighbourhood Watch and Crime Prevention and for their details to be held on
Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator database held by the Cambridgeshire
Constabulary.
The police may disclose details of crime patterns and
information concerning incidents that have taken place in identified
locations. To assist in the prevention or detection of crime the police may
also give descriptions of suspects and in unusual cases vehicle registration
numbers, although the latter isn't standard practice. The Police will not give
out personal details likely to identify a property or an individual.
Police staff attending the scene of a crime may consider it
necessary for the purpose of detecting or preventing a crime, to give personal
details to a person who may be able to assist the police with their enquiries.
This is not a universal authority for police staff to
distribute personal details of victims to watch members. They must give good
reason for giving out this information and should record these reasons, as
they may be asked at a later date to justify their decision.
Once this information is given, the person receiving it is
bound by The Data Protection Act and should not pass on the personal details
without the consent of the Constabulary.
As a Co-ordinator you may wish to keep personal details of the
members involved in a watch scheme on your computer. It is necessary therefore
to:-
