Group creator Bill Hackney was one of two members of the public who were hand-picked to sit on an advisory panel to inform NSW Police before the neighbourhood watch program was relaunched across the state.

“There is a want and a need for a new ­generation of the Neighbourhood Watch,” Mr Hackney said. 

“The police want to relaunch this across the state and they are quite excited about the ­success of our group.”

It was the start of the year when Mr Hackney decided he was sick of hearing about crime in the Metford area.

He set up a Facebook page called Metford Residents Against Crime and it soon grew to more than 500 people.

He decided to formalise the group and launched the Metford Neighbourhood Watch.

“There was a neighbourhood watch group about 20 years ago in the area, I thought it was a good idea to start one again” he said.

“People post issues and things that are happening in Metford.

“It is mostly petty crime, like theft from vehicles and ­vandalism. I put it down to bored teenagers most of the time.”

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Mr Hackney said when he first started the digital platform for the group, there were daily updates about petty crime in the suburb.

Now the group has grown, he has noticed a reduction in posts and believed the Neighbourhood Watch has had a positive effect on both crime and the community.

“It is about building up the community and getting rid of the stigma about Metford,” he said.

“Crime doesn’t discriminate, there is crime everywhere.”

The Metford group uses ­digital platforms such as Facebook to communicate and report issues.

It has a police-first policy and encourages members to report crime to the authorities, before posting it to social media.

Mr Hackney said it was the success of the group’s online reporting system which saw him chosen for the advisory panel.

“We are not vigilantes, just vigilant,” he said.

“I certainly do think the group has made a difference.”