Neighbourhood Watch NHW alerts & messages Get Started with Your Neighbourhood Watch or Business Watch

OWL keeps communities safe, helps reduce crime and keeps people informed of what's going on locally. It's a secure platform for the public and shared with the police and local authority to maximise the potential of Neighbourhood Watch, Rural Watch, Business Watch and dozens of other schemes. OWL sends you the latest local crime alerts and provides management tools for maintaining and expanding watches. OWL was featured on BBC Crimewatch. (Watch clip)

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Find your NHW (Neighbourhood Watch) Join Your Nearest Watch Scheme

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Register for free or get in touch with your nearest watch. Select the scheme you're interested in and type in your residential or business postcode.

Watch Scheme:
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OWL supports over 80 different types of residential & business schemes. Only a few are listed above and varies between police forces and boroughs.

OWL success stories through NHW and other watch schemes Good Communication Leads to Good Success Stories

Find out how OWL has helped find suspects, brought offenders to justice, found missing people, and more...

Designed as a Secure, Trusted Platform

OWL is a secure platform that has been used by 7 police forces, 5,000 officers and 500,000 members of the public. 250,000 alerts & updates have been published through OWL, generating almost 1 billion emails, 40 million push notifications and 3 million SMS.

During registration and throughout all pages, data sent between your computer and OWL is securely encrypted over the Internet. Please keep your OWL password a secret and never disclose it to anyone, not even police or OWL staff.

How does OWL help?

Police & Councils send out alerts via OWL about crime & local issues happening right now in your area. It helps prevent burglary, finds missing people, makes people feel safer, and also catches suspects. The video below shows just one of many ways OWL can keep you safe.

Want to reduce rural crime? Watch these videos...

Keyless Car Theft Protection

Looking for signal blockers for keyless car fobs? These will protect your car from hi-tech thieves who can use "relay theft" to open your car door and start its engine. Our signal blocking pouches are Secured by Design accredited.

Former Partners & Sponsors

OWL Spotlight

Jan 2024: Survey of OWL members in Haringey reveals 83% are now more aware of what their local police are doing, and 78% said OWL provides the most up-to-date police info compared to social media platforms.
Sep 2023: Hertfordshire achieved 37% of all homes individually registered in NhW on OWL. The most in any county in the UK!
Aug 2023: Stolen Land Rover Discovery reunited with its owner after a watch member saw the OWL alert and spotted the vehicle.
Jun 2023: Gang members jailed, with help from watch members, after £1m crime spree.
Dec 2022: Burglar jailed for 11 years, with help from watch members, for nearly 70 offenses.
Mar 2018: Man charged with 42 fraud and ATM distraction offenses after an OWL alert sent by Barnet police prompted a watch member to supply crucial evidence.
Jun 2013: OWL received award from the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street in recognition of crime reduction and empowering communities.

Awards

e-Government National Awards 2008 WINNERe-Government National Awards 2008 Winner: Innovation in local strategy
Prime Minister gives Big Society Award to OWLAwarded by the Prime Minister for reducing crime & empowering communities.
British Chamber of Commerce Regional WinnerBritish Chamber of Commerce Winner for East of England.
Britain's Digital Elite awarded for OWLWinner of Britain's Digital Elite awarded by Microsoft & Real Business.
Network Wales AwardsNetwork Wales Awards 2010, runner up for Best Communications.
Hertfordshire Business Awards, Best Business WebsiteWinner of Best Website & finalist of Creative Innovation.
Join your local watch scheme to help keep yourself, your home and your neighbourhood safe. The most successful schemes in the UK are managed using OWL. It's free and quick to join and your details are kept secure. OWL makes a genuine difference to your community. If you're a coordinator you can manage your own watch using OWL. Type in your postcode below to check if there's a nearby watch or to register now.
Great! If your details have been registered and approved you should have received a welcome email and a password. Go to the Login page and follow the instructions.
Are you looking to reinvigorate your watch schemes, to increase local engagement with communities, to build trust and confidence and reduce crime? OWL has proven to do all this and more. It's used by 1,000 police & local government staff including Trading Standards, Fire & Rescue, housing, schools and licencing officers. It's the only messaging system to have won national Government awards for its innovation, crime reduction and ability to strengthen communities. Contact us for full details and case studies.