Why is Sergeant Morton meeting local residents?

It’s very nice to see so many faces here tonight. I’m Sergeant Morton, the Crime Prevention Officer for the area.  I’m here this evening to talk about "Local Watch", which some of you may have some experience of.  For the rest, " Local Watch" is a service formed by cooperation between local residents and the Police, and I’ll be explaining how it operates. In times gone by, most people lived in one area all their lives and so the great majority knew their neighbors very well.   If something unusual had happened or if strangers had been acting suspiciously, people would have taken action quickly. These days it’s different and people often have little or no idea who their neighbors are.