Vol. 475 No. 8
193 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice if she has received the report of the special review commissioned on the community alert and neighbourhood watch initiative; the steps, if any, she proposes to take on foot of this report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6313/97]
Just prior to the task force on security for the elderly report an evaluation was carried out of a number of community alert schemes. This evaluation showed that these schemes had a positive effect on crime levels in the areas surveyed. The actual results recorded were: 17 per cent decrease in attacks on the elderly, 25 per cent decrease in burglaries, 21 per cent decrease in other crimes.
In addition, the community alert groups received £50,000 during 1996 to provide them with the resources to significantly expand the number of schemes in operation over the next couple of years. This has facilitated increasing to five the number of development officers employed by the schemes.
