Doorstep Crime Action Network

Launch of the Doorstep crime Action Network

Watermark has just completed a comprehensive new awareness campaign for Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire County Council Trading Standards to look out for and lock up doorstep criminals across the county who target elderly or vulnerable people.

Rolled out over then next 6-12 months the campaign was designed not to shock but to create awareness encourage people to become part of the Doorstep Action Network. The logo sums up the campaign and is set to become as familiar as the ‘Neighbourhood watch’ logo within the Northamptonshire region and possibly adopted throughout the country.

The campaign combines a double-edged message to both the public and the perpetrators with imagery targeted for each. A range of material has been produced including leaflets, billboards, bus advertising, door stickers and posters.

The Doorstep crime Action Network (DAN) comprises members of the public together with public, private, charity and community sector organisations.

The launch of DAN will take place at 12pm at the Sports Pavilion in Wootton Hall Park, on Monday 7 September where representatives from the Police, Northamptonshire County Council Trading Standards and representatives from the sector organisations eager to join ‘DAN’ will be in attendance.

Assistant Chief Constable Dean Smith said “Doorstep crime is often carried out by highly organised groups, who are involved in both rogue doorstep trading and distraction burglary across the country.

“Doorstep crime of any kind is despicable and often has a real impact on the victim’s sense of confidence and security in their own home.

“In Northamptonshire, we are working closely with other agencies to share information and respond to offences, which ensures that we use all the powers available to us to close the net on criminals and make this county a difficult place for them to work.

“Anyone in the community can join DAN by keeping a look out and passing on gentle reminders to help prevent vulnerable persons from falling victim to doorstep crime.”

Cabinet member with responsibility for customers and communities, Councillor Andre Gonzalez de Savage said “Trading Standards Officers often receive complaints about poor or incomplete work carried out, high pressure, intimidating sales tactics, failure to provide written cancellation rights and substantial price increases from the original price quoted for work, with as much as £18,000 being paid for work worth less than £100.

The DAN initiative is part of ongoing efforts to crackdown on rogue trading in the county. As a county council we are committed to working in partnership to fight this issue. Our advice is always the same; if you’re not sure don’t open the door.”


Above all, the message to pass on is, if anyone has suspicions or concerns that distraction burglars or rogue doorstep traders are operating in your neighbourhood or targeting someone you know, ring us the dedicated doorstep crime number on 0345 23 07 702

To find out more on the campaign Northamptonshire Police has more details about what to look out for at northants.police.uk/lookout


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