CommunitySafe.gov.uk

Happy New Year! Just to let you know that recently, over night in the Village area there have been incidences of strangers going onto driveways, trying car door handles and front doors to see if they are open in order to steal your property. This was identified by footprints in the snow. A dog unit managed to track to culprits so we know who they are. As well as this, over the holiday period, a letter box burglary was attempted whereby a stick was used to try to hook car keys from inside the property. Luckily this was foiled by the occupant taking direct action and again the culprits were caught and arrested for burglary. Therefore please ensure your vehicles are kept locked when unattended and that you remove keys from near your front door and that your front door is secured properly when shut. We will be holding the first of this year's surgeries on Saturday 16th January at 10.00 - 11.00 at the Lighthouse Restaurant on the Ridgway to discuss any concerns you may have. We hope to see you there if you can make it. Below I have included information on a new Merton Borough initiative regarding vehicle crime that reinforces what we are already doing. Please could you take a couple of minutes to read it. If you seen anything or anyone suspicious please call us direct, alternatively if we are not on duty and you get the recorded announcement call 999 in an emergency. Thank you Tony Leworthy PC795VW Village SNT T: 020 8721 2457 E Mail: Village@met.police.uk DRIVE OUT VEHICLE CRIME IN MERTON January 2010 DRIVE OUT VEHICLE CRIME In an effort to combat vehicle crime, Merton Borough Police in conjunction with Safer Merton are launching a ‘Drive Out Vehicle Crime’ initiative which will include a number of partnership interventions throughout the year, the first of which is to provide a property marking service for those living within the Borough that may well have received property such as sat navs that may well be used and left in vehicles. Inspector Jim COOK from Merton Police said, “Vehicle crime is the one of the highest crime types in the Borough and a number of Safer Neighbourhood Teams have had vehicle crime reduction chosen by their ward Panels to work. We will be looking to raise the public’s awareness and offering advice on how they can help us reduce the incidence of vehicle crime. Over the coming weeks and months Merton Police will be carrying out a number of proactive operations against those involved in vehicle crime. Already the Safer Neighbourhood Teams conduct a large number of Automatic Number Plate Operations and will continue these with both uniform and plain clothes patrols in areas where vehicle crime is most prevalent. I would urge those living in Merton to contact their local Safer Neighbourhood Team and sign up to Community Safe to receive up to date news of what their local Safer Neighbourhood Team is up to. This is a free system and by joining it you can find out about crime alerts and what the Police are doing in your local area. You can join by either logging onto WWW.Communitysafe.gov.uk or by contacting your local Safer Neighbourhood Team direct”. We take this opportunity to remind you all to: Ensure cars are locked – this might seem simple but a high percentage of cars are left unlocked in Merton. Don’t leave anything on view – you may know your jacket is empty but an opportunist thief doesn’t. Take your sat nav out of your vehicle and clean the suction mark off the windscreen – thieves will smash your window just to check the glove box. For any further information please contact your local Safer Neighbourhood Team via the main Met Police website by telephone or by e-mail. If you wish to become a member of Community safe and sign up to free crime alerts and news of what your local safer Neighbourhood Team is up to please contact them direct or join via www.communitysafe.gov.uk.