CommunitySafe.gov.uk

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. 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. To kick off this initiative we have free UV pens to mark the property you have in the car. If you would like one please contact us and we will deliver it when next in your street. The main problem we have on West Barnes are number plates being stolen. There have been 4 sets of number plates taken over the last month. We currently have a limited supply of tamper proof screws to give out with more being delivered in February. Please again let us know if you would like any of these. For any further information please contact West Barnes Safer Neighbourhood Team via the main Met Police website by telephone 0208 721 2454 or by e-mail at westbarnes.snt@met.police.uk. If you know anyone who wishes to become a member of Community safe to sign up to free crime alerts and news of what your local safer Neighbourhood Team is up to please get them to contact us direct or join via www.communitysafe.gov.uk. Graham Chapman PS 54VW