Neighborhood Prevention
Residents can make their neighborhood safer by starting a Neighborhood WhatsApp group. This is a WhatsApp group in which residents keep each other informed of any suspicious situations.
By reporting suspicious situations in a Neighborhood WhatsApp, residents are quickly warned and can keep an eye on the suspect. In the meantime, the police can be informed and take action if necessary. This way, there are more eyes and ears for the police and other supervisors.
Application for Neighbourhood Watch Sign
Do you have a Neighbourhood WhatsApp group in your neighbourhood? To make it clear that residents are keeping a close eye on their street and neighbourhood, you can have a sign placed in the street with the text 'Attention Neighbourhood Prevention'.
It is also possible to place a sticker on your front door with the same text. This can have a preventive effect on unwanted people in your neighborhood. You can request a sign or sticker by sending an e-mail to buurtpreventie@zoetermeer.nl or by calling the general telephone number 14 079 .
Project Hot-footedness
The municipality and police started the Heterdaadkracht project in September 2017.
Project Heterdaadkracht means that in the event of a red-handed burglary or other crime with a major impact, the police asks local residents via WhatsApp to look out for the perpetrator(s). The administrators of the WhatsApp neighbourhood watch groups receive messages from the police that are specifically intended for their neighbourhood. They can then forward these messages in their own WhatsApp group. This allows you to reach the residents quickly and directly. And speed is very important in the event of a red-handed crime. In this way, the chance of being caught is increased and the municipality, police and residents make Zoetermeer even safer.
The administrators receive messages from the police via WhatsApp that are specifically intended for their neighborhood. They can then forward these messages in their own WhatsApp group. In this way, the chance of catching is increased and the municipality, police and residents make Zoetermeer even safer.
Are you joining us?
Are you the administrator of a WhatsApp neighborhood watch group and would you like to register for this project? Send an email to buurtpreventie@zoetermeer.nl and indicate in your message that you would like to be added to the administrator group of your neighborhood. If you are starting a WhatsApp neighborhood watch, you can also send an email to participate in the administrator group.
Zoetermeer Safe
The municipality has the theme of safety high on the agenda and finds it important that residents feel safe in the city. It is a task of the municipality in collaboration with various parties. The focus is on both prevention and action when necessary. The municipality also involves its residents to ensure that Zoetermeer is and remains a liveable and safe city.