CommunitySafe.gov.uk

Merton Police are conducting Operation Lockdown, a three month burglary initiative which will employ a range of tactics to disrupt burglary, gain intelligence and arrest and convict offenders in identified hotspots across the Borough. St Helier is not a burglary hotspot Whilst the number of burglary offences across the Borough remain relatively low, there has been a recent rise in the number of opportunist burglaries where entry has been gained through open windows and unlocked doors. Many of these could be avoided. Residents are reminded to lock doors and windows when they go out, to keep ground floor doors and windows closed and secure when they go to bed and not to leave expensive and valuable items in view of passers by. Simple measures and some extra care will go along way to preventing you from becoming a victim of burglary. A simple measure can be securing your shed with a good quality padlock and keep tools locked away and out of sight to prevent them being used AGAINST YOUR OWN PROPERTY. People spend hundreds of pounds on tools and bikes then secure them with a padlock that would be more at home on a suitcase. The number of burglaries on St Helier has fallen for the second half of the first 6 months of this year. From the 1st April to the 30th June analysis shows that there were 9 substantive burglaries and 2 attempted. The worrying statistic is in 56% of these cases entry was gained via an UNLOCKED rear door which would suggest motives were more opportunistic than planned out. We need residents/occupiers to ensure that they are making best efforts to keep there homes secure and their property their own. These figures are low but we can reduce them further with relatively easy measures. I attended an an address to conduct an arrest enquiry, the front door was unlocked and the rear doors were wide open, on returning the occupier said it was ok because she had only been gone 5 minutes, on this occasion it made my job a lot easier but an opportunist burglar would have felt the same. If you have any information about criminal activity or you think you may have been offered stolen goods then CONTACT US. We have a proven track record in conducting pro-active operations and have recovered numerous different items from such early morning raids but we need information to take to a magistrates court to enable us to do these pro-active jobs. We can look at the information, attempt to corroborate it and take action where necessary. Your information will be treated confidentially. We will continue to patrol affected areas using intelligence led policing, we will utilise plain clothes and will also periodically adjust shifts to cover night time and the early hours of the morning to disrupt criminal activity and deter offenders. DRIVE OUT VEHICLE CRIME Come and get your free ‘Secur-I-Disc’ tamper proof tax disc holder as part of an ongoing campaign to drive out vehicle crime in the Borough. The ‘Secur-I Disc’ tax disc holder prevents the re-use of a tax disc, thereby making it pointless to steal. Merton Police Crime Prevention Advisor PC Greg HUNT said, "This is our final intervention of the ‘Drive Out Vehicle Crime’ campaign which has been a real success in getting the message out to the public to take valuables with them and to secure their vehicles. We hope the Merton residents will continue in this trend to keep ‘theft from vehicle’ statistics down”. The ‘Secur-I-Disc’ tamper proof tax disc holder are available free of charge at the vehicle crime road shows run by your local Safer Neighbourhood Teams or by contacting your local Safer Neighbourhood Team. Regards Richard PS36VW and the St Helier Team 0208 649 3575 MertonSt Helier.SNT@met.police.uk In an emergency always dial 999