OWL is used by Hertfordshire Constabulary and local coordinators to communicate with thousands of watch members across the county.

95,786 people registered on OWL who had working email addresses were invited to participate in this survey. 8,444 took part (9%) providing quantitative answers to questions and in addition wrote 9,000 qualitative responses and comments.

Summary

Members have been registered for an average of 3 years.

Local crime alerts are considered the most useful type of message sent out via OWL, closely followed by scam & fraud alerts.

• 84% say messages are locally relevant to their area.
• 75% say OWL messages help them better understand what their local policing team are doing.
• 46% say they feel safer in their own home since receiving OWL messages. (Only 3.6% say less safe)
• 87% say they’re more aware of scams & rogue traders since receiving OWL messages.
• 62% say they have more confidence in Neighbourhood Watch since receiving OWL messages.
• 55% say they have more confidence in the police since receiving OWL messages. (Only 5% said less)
• 48% say they’ve improved their home or work security since receiving OWL messages.
• 80% say being a member of Neighbourhood Watch has been useful to them.
• 98% are satisfied with the OWL messaging service with 89% saying it’s excellent or good.
• 66% would consider attending online community meetings with the police. (OWL Live Chat)
• Nearly half use Facebook regularly (45%); only 12% regularly use Twitter.
• 60% read emails on a phone or tablet and 78% on a desktop or laptop. (The overlap use both)
• The average age of the members who responded is between 55 and 70. 29% were over 70.
• 55.5% of respondents were female.