ODPM – NRU – Neighbourhood Wardens Scheme Evaluation
"IDentislot Scheme – Knowsley"

Extracts taken directly from the ODPM – Neighbourhood Wardens Scheme Evaluation - Research Report 8 – 2004

1. Introduction – 1.2 Neighbourhood Wardens Programme

"Examples of joint working from case study schemes include:

• With the police, on installing IDentislot schemes for older people in Knowsley;"

2. Impact

Box 2.3.1: Knowsley Wardens Act to Reduce Fear of Crime

"Targeting fear of crime among older people: the IDentislot Project"
Distraction burglaries and bogus callers were perceived as a considerable problem in Knowsley. By installing slots on the doors of vulnerable and older residents, wardens are helping people feel safer in their homes. Callers post their ID cards through the slots, and if residents are in doubt, they can refer to a list of authorised callers and contact numbers for specific departments (provided by the wardens). If residents still feel concerned, the wardens are willing to attend and check references.

One Evaluation Group member conducted a survey with residents who have had the IDentislot installed. Her finding were:

• People associated the IDentislot with the warden scheme;
• Almost everyone had used the IDentislot (and not everyone uses it on a regular basis, but most use it when feeling unsure or threatened);
• Almost all respondents said they felt safer with Identisot; and
• The IDentislot is helping to reduce the fear of crime, especially for older people. Even those who stated that they used it rarely would still recommend it to other people.

The residents' survey reveals that residents' fear of bogus caller crime has gone down by 6.9% in Knowsley.

Box 2.3.2: How Wardens can make a Difference to Reducing Fear of Crime
"Plugging into other initiatives. Whereas; seeing wardens' positively correlated with reduced fear of public crimes such as muggings, more targeted action seems to be needed to lower fear of crimes that do not happen in public. This may be best achieved by plugging into existing initiatives such as the IDentislot Project in Knowsley"

3. Influencing Impacts

Box 3.2.1– Case Study Knowsley – Visibility
To combat difficulties with physical layout of the area and periods of under staffing, the Knowsley scheme has used the following strategies;

"During periods of lower staff levels, wardens have concentrated on specific initiatives such as property marking, installing alarms and the IDentislot scheme.
These schemes raised the profile of the wardens amongst the residents without the need for high intensity patrolling"

Annex 4: Evaluation Group Indicators

Fear of Crime Indicators

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