The message om
from "Dave Liquorice" contains these words:

On Sun, 30 May 2004 23:44:48 +0100, Janet Baraclough.. wrote:

You're speaking of urban circumstances. In rural Scotland, the
police decline "neighbourhood watch" status to very thinly populated
areas.

Asking with the wrong words?

Not at all. The police are extremely helpful and attentive on crime
prevention, to any householder who asks; but I suppose having a sticker
in the window saying "neighbourhood watch" does rather devalue the
scheme when burglars can see for themself that there are no other houses
within sight :-)

Having said that, rural neighbours (in Scotland at least) operate
their own jungle drums system; only it's not just restricted to
crime-watching.

Do they do "Farm Watch", but being
Scotland things could be very different...

I dunno, not being a farmer.


My friend's house (and the Akita house) are both, at insurers'
insistance after repeated attacks, professionally alarmed to the
hilt.

And monitored? No point in having all the flashing lights and bells if
there is no one about to report it...

Yes, both connected direct to their alarm companies. IME, the police
had generally heard about the alarm going off from someone local, before
they received an alert from the alarm company.

Of course if it takes the
"local" police force an hour to get to the place after the monitoring
station has reported a confirmed intruder, the scroates will have long
gone by the time the police get there.

Quite.

I guess these places are around a 90 min drive from an urban/city
area.

No, that was just 15 miles from Glasgow.

Most of the burgularies up here are commited by scroats driving
in from urban/city areas.

Ditto.

Janet.