According to the BBC between June and August, 837 bikes were taken in the city – a rise of 141 compared to the same period in 2010.

Sgt Matt Sulley from Oxford police station said bike theft was a huge problem and returning cycles to their owners was the biggest issue.

He said if cycles are registered at immobilise.com police can easily identify the original owners.

In Oxford, Thames Valley Police are currently holding hundreds of bikes.

Sgt Sulley said the large number of cycles in Oxford made thefts a particular problem.

He said that also the large portion of old-style houses in the city meant it was difficult for people to access gardens and sheds to properly secure their bikes.

He added:

There are also criminals making a business out of it. Lots of bikes are being stolen and then stripped for parts which makes them very difficult to trace.

We have also seen a number of very expensive bikes, worth thousands of pounds, locked up with cheap locks.

Between 5 and 25 September 2011 neighbourhood policing teams will be at key locations in Oxford advising people about ways to protect their property.

To read the source BBC story please visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-14760978

To visit Thames Valley Police go to: http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/

Student cyclists across Greater Manchester are being urged to saddle up and beat the bike thieves by taking advantage of free bike security schemes, following the theft of more than 5,200 pedal bikes last year.

Between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011, 5,265 bikes were stolen from across Greater Manchester – a nine per cent increase compared to the same period in the previous year.

Over the next few weeks, students will be invited to attend a series of bike security marking events across Greater Manchester. Police officers will give out a limited number of free bike locks to cyclists without adequate security on a first come, first served basis, along with discount vouchers for the Bike Doctor, Manchester, and bike security advice.

In this latest effort to stamp out bike theft, officers will also target thieves by using a number of decoy bikes to track down offenders, along with increased patrols in hotspot areas. In addition, officers will also be on the lookout for bikes with similar descriptions to those stolen, stop-checking anyone who might be riding one. Should a bike turn out to be stolen, they could be arrested.

Detective Chief Inspector Julian Snowball, of GMP’s Serious Crime division, said:

This is a great opportunity to help put the brakes on bike theft by getting your bikes security marked free of charge.

Bikes are expensive so will always be a target for thieves, especially if they aren’t secured or only have a standard lock. We would like to encourage students, where possible, to use the official cycle racks covered by CCTV. However, if they are not available secure it to a heavy or bulky object that can’t be moved.

You can also register your bike at www.immobilise.com, which is an online database linked to police property systems that will help us reunite you with your bike should it be stolen and later found. By advertising that your bike’s identity has been registered, it becomes far less attractive to thieves.

As part of the campaign, posters will go up in cycle shops, universities, colleges, public buildings, schools, sports centres and other eye-catching places. In addition, bike hangers, with a discount voucher for secure locks and crime prevention advice, will be hung on parked bikes in universities and colleges.

Based around the slogan ‘Beat The Bike Thief’, the poster and hanger remind cyclists to always secure bikes with a good quality chain or lock when not in use, making it much more difficult to steal.

To read the source article please go to: http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/56043/police-put-the-brakes-on-bike-theft

The police seize hundreds of items each year and many of them cannot be returned, as police do not know where they have come from.

Immobilise.com is a free database whereby residents can register valuable items and record information such as serial numbers and distinguishing marks. All police forces have access to the site and when an item is seized or handed in, officers can check the database and find out who it belongs to.

Inspector Paul Kinrade from the South Manchester Division of Greater Manchester Police said:

Our property store is crammed full of bikes, garden tools, computers, jewellery and clothing but unfortunately a lot of this is never returned to its owners as we are not able to identify where it has come from.

Obviously we hope that residents never have to go through the experience of getting broken into but registering your valuables on immobilise only takes a couple of minutes and it could spell the difference between getting your stolen items back or never seeing them again.

To avoid the chances of being broken into, please remember to shut and lock all of your windows and doors. It sounds really obvious but unfortunately a third of burglaries happen because homes are left insecure.

You can also help to deter burglars by leaving lights on and keeping valuables out of view.

To read the source article please go to: www.gmp.police.uk

Local officers are now offering to register student valuables on free online property database www. immobilise .com as part of the on-going Lock It, Hide It, Keep It Campaign.

The registering initiative was launched this month by student liaison officer PC Tim Davies who visited Cardiff University Students Union on Tuesday, March 1 with a crime prevention and information stand.

Pc Davies said:

The latest Home Office figures show that overall burglary in Cardiff is down 3.1 per cent but Roath and Cathays, both densely populated by students in shared properties, tend to have higher rates of burglary than other areas of the city.

Unfortunately student homes provide rich pickings for criminals who know that most students will have valuables such as laptops, games consoles and IPods that can be easily carried and sold on.

Since Christmas there have been 40 burglaries at student properties in Cardiff and 21 have at insecure properties.

This means doors and windows have been left open which is perfect for burglars as they don’t need to smash glass, risk making a noise and being disturbed, and possibly leave their DNA.

The good news is that this is something students can easily address.
Students are urged to register items such as laptops, IPods and bikes on www. immobilise .com as this means the real owners can be contacted if found.

Stolen items are usually sold or passed on in the Cardiff area.

We find hundreds of bikes every year but they have to be auctioned because we never know who they belong to,” said Pc Davies.

If owners had registered them on Immobilise then they could be easily returned.

I will be in the students union on the first Tuesday of every month with my laptop and would encourage all students to call into see me for this free service and extra crime prevention advice.

To read the source article please go to: http://www.south-wales.police.uk/

In a countywide crackdown on theft and burglary, police are urging people to log their expensive Christmas presents and any other precious belongings on immobilise.com – the world’s largest FREE register of ownership details.

In a time when police resources are getting ever more stretched, the police are looking to focus their efforts on crime prevention, with this campaign aimed at preventing thefts happening in the first place – a more efficient way of protecting the public.

And in addition to acting as a major deterrent to criminals, the big difference with Immobilise is that as well as getting your stuff back if it’s lost or stolen, the system helps to catch the thieves as well!

The database is linked directly to police systems, so when officers recover any property, for whatever reason, they can check it against items logged on Immobilise. For example, if someone arrested on suspicion of drunk and disorderly has your stolen mobile phone in their pocket, police will also be able to link the theft to them as well – but only if it’s registered!

Any item can be registered on immobilise. The easiest items to log are electricals, or anything that has a serial number, but you can even log jewellery or ornamental items using the photo upload and description functions. You can register as many items as you like, and then if they are lost or stolen you simply log back on to register them as such. The police can check any property they recover, whether that’s when a person is brought into custody for any reason, property recovered from criminals in raids, or even during one of their now routine checks on second-hand dealers. And if they find anything that is listed as stolen, not only will you get your belongings back, but the thieves can be brought to justice.

Chief Superintendent Bill Hotchkiss said:

Part of policing involves stopping crime happening in the first place. The public can play a huge part in this by protecting their property with Immobilise, making items easier to identify and less attractive to thieves.

We want to send a clear message to those potential thieves that anything logged on Immobilise is too hot to handle. As a member of the South Yorkshire public, by registering your property, and marking it as such, you are much less likely to become a victim of crime.

To support the campaign, police are distributing packs to the public to make the process even easier. These include a selection of stickers to mark all your items as logged, so as to deter criminals, and an information leaflet to explain the process. The packs are available from your local police stations in South Yorkshire or from South Yorkshire branches of Curries, Dixons and PC World. In addition, safer neighbourhood team officers will be out and about in public places offering packs and advice to members of the public.

Visit www.immobilise.com to get started.

More details can be found at www.southyorks.police.uk

Avon and Somerset Police have transformed an empty shop unit in The Mall Bristol, Broadmead, into a rather unusual information centre.

Experts from Bike UK, the Safer Bristol Partnership and the police will be on hand to advise members of the public on all safety issues, from bike locks and seasonal burglary to late night transport and drink and drug awareness.

One of two large window displays will contain a crime scene for members of the public to investigate. The other will be have a bike security theme. Police will be urging shoppers to register presents like laptops and bikes on the national property database, Immobilise.

The database is used by police to trace the owners of suspected stolen property.

If the items are ever stolen the account holder logs on and marks them as stolen. They will then be flagged up on the national database as stolen when checked by retailers or police forces.

There will also be the chance to win a Saracen mountain bike, free T-Shirt printing with the police’s Streetwise team after school on December 9 and 16, and balloons to fingerprint and take home.

PCSO Warren Vincent-Rodgers from the Broadmead and Cabot Circus police team came up with the idea for the shop.

He said:

We tested the shop in The Mall last year with great success, speaking to more than 1,000 Bristol residents about all sorts of security and safety issues.

You can’t really have a more striking window display than a crime scene, and with so many TV programmes getting children and adults interested in this area of work, it’s a fantastic opportunity to see at first hand the techniques CSIs use to find clues and help solve cases.

Everyone is invited to note down their theory of what happened and will be entered into a prize draw.

It should make a welcome distraction from Christmas shopping.

The shop will open Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm, on Thursdays until 7pm, and on Saturdays until 3pm. For more on immobilise go to www.immobilise.com.

To read the source article please go to: www.thisisbristol.co.uk

Mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 and MP4 players, and sat nav systems are the most commonly stolen items in Tayside. Unless they are registered, they are also least likely to be returned to their owners if found.

The ‘immobilise’ database is an on-line property search, used by the police service to search for any identifiable item of property. Once a phone or other piece of electrical equipment is registered, officers can use it to look up its IMEI number or unique registration number, view the registered owner’s details, find out if it has been reported stolen to the police anywhere in the UK, and in the case of a mobile phone, which network it is on. All this means that you improve your chances of getting your phone back if it is lost or stolen.

Divisional Crime Prevention Officer Colin Brough said,

These days mobile phones are used for more than just making phone calls. Many people have their whole lives on them – family pictures, important emails, personal and business contact details. We realise that if your phone is lost or stolen it can have a major impact on your life.

We want as many people as possible to get their phones and other property registered on the database this Christmas. It’s really simple, takes only a couple of minutes and better still it’s absolutely free. It means that if a mobile phone, laptop, sat nav or whatever is found, or if we stop someone with any of these items that we believe do not to belong to them, we can quickly check it on the database, and return it to the rightful owner.

We hope that by encouraging more and more people to register their property, the message that it’s just not worth it will get back to those who are thinking about stealing a phone, laptop, sat nav or MP3 player.

To view the source article please go to: www.tayside.police.uk

Cumbria’s force chiefs also revealed that they had recovered £1,700 of stolen property as part of investigations into a spate of burglaries in north Allerdale.

They have also issued a warning to householders, saying: “Don’t let thieves spoil your Christmas” and urged them to keep possessions “safe, hidden and locked”.

Police teams across the county are distributing a festive flyer, with tips on how to keep valuables, cars and houses safe at a time when burglaries traditionally increase.

PC Simon Evans, of north Cumbria’s community safety squad, said:

By following these messages, you can hopefully have a crime-free Christmas.

Crime-cutting efforts in the area will include the promotion of a website – www.immobilise.com – that allows people to register property for free, recording unique information that can be used by police to trace owners of stolen property.

Inspector Dennis Kelly, who heads west Cumbria’s burglary action team, said:

We are raising awareness of the importance of securing homes effectively and asking for the community’s help to provide us with information if they see anything or anyone acting suspiciously.

If you see something, please call us. Your small piece of information could help us to build up an intelligence picture and could mean that we can intervene and stop a crime from happening.

To read the source article in full please go to: http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/

What are these facts?

If any of the following records exist for the item you are sending to a recycler:

• A block by the UK networks on the Shared Equipment Identity Register (SEIR) also known as the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR)
• A loss or theft report on the Police Stolen Equipment National Database (SEND)
• A fulfilled insurance claim on the Identifiable Property Insurance Database (IPCD)

Then the recycler has an obligation under their Code of Practice to do certain things:

• They must tell you there is a problem and give you the details on how to contact CheckMEND so we can tell you which records are present and how you may go about getting them updated to allow the sale to proceed.
• They must tell CheckMEND about the failure to pass the testing so that CheckMEND may inform the Police, Insurer or Network that originated the record.
• They must hold the phone for 28 days to allow you to get the records updated or the record originator to claim the item or contact you.
• If at the end of the 28 days the records have not been updated or the phone claimed as above, the recycler is deemed to be the legal owner of the handset and is required to dispose of the item responsibly.
• The recycler CANNOT in these circumstances return the item to you or pay you for it. To do either would risk offences under The Theft Act or Proceeds Of Crime Act.

How can you protect yourself?

• If you are buying a used item, always ask the seller for a CheckMEND certificate or run a check yourself before buying.
• Always run a check on CheckMEND before you send an item to a recycler or otherwise try to sell it on.
• If you get a red result on any of the checks shown on the certificate DO NOT send the phone to a recycler until you have got the records updated and the check shows the phone as green, at which point you can send in the item.
• Sometimes, unscrupulous sellers will supply an item and only weeks or months later report it as lost/stolen or claim on their insurance. This is rare but in this case, your item could fall foul of the above rules after you had a green CheckMEND check and sent it to a recycler. If you are refused payment for your item in this manner as a result of a block, theft report or insurance claim CheckMEND will refund to you the cost of the check. (Not the cost of the item).

If you would like more information on the Recyclers’ code of practice please visit their web sitehttp://www.stoprecycledstolenphones.com

To visit CheckMEND please go to: www.checkmend.com

To read the source article please go to: www.checkmend.com/uk/recycle

One of the key messages that comes across is the importance of marking your possessions and registering them on the Immobilise Property Register.

The police recover many items that have been lost or stolen.  By security marking items that have financial or sentimental value, it is easier for the police to identify them and return them to you.

Marking your property may also act as a deterrent to thieves, who do not want to be caught holding or passing on stolen items.

Always include information that will help identify you as the owner of the property, for example, a postcode.

For more information please see the following links:

Kent Police: www.kent.police.uk/advice/advice.html

One of the key crime prevention messages that the digi-bike is promoting is the registration of your valued property on the Immobilise National Property Register (www.immobilise.com).

To view the BBC video go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-10947119

To read the expanded BBC news story go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-black-country-10944247

Every year Avon and Somerset Police work closely with the festival organisers to ensure the event remains largely crime-free and a safe environment for all festival-goers.

Crime at the festival is generally low and the crime that does occur can be easily prevented. Police advise festival-goers to leave valuables at home and only take essential items to the festival with them.

If you do have to take valuable items with you make use of the free property lock-ups throughout the site and don’t leave anything valuable unattended in your tents. Register any valuable items on the Immobilise database before you leave for home so that if anything is lost or stolen police have a better chance of reuniting you with your items if they are recovered.

While out watching your favourite bands make sure you have your phone and wallet secured tightly away. Experience shows that it’s in big crowds and ‘mosh pits’ close to stages that the thieves are more likely to target you.

Personal safety and illegal substances:  No matter what myths you may have heard about police having a policy at Glastonbury of allowing people to smoke cannabis or take small amounts of other drugs, it is not true. Police have a zero tolerance policy to illegal substances and will be relentless in combating drug-related crime.

The law at Glastonbury is exactly the same as any other city, town or street in the rest of the United Kingdom when it comes to possession and use of an illegal substance. If you are found to be in possession of drugs at the festival you face arrest and prosecution as well as eviction from the site.

Contacting police at the Festival: Finally, if at the festival you do need to contact officers, the best thing to do is visit the 24-hour police station on site at the Festival. This is situated to the north of the festival site along with the other emergency services.

If you need to contact police in an emergency however always call 999.

Officers will be patrolling the site throughout the festival offering a reassuring and highly visible presence and are more than happy to chat to festival goers about their concerns. Officers will be loaded with crime prevention freebies to give away to festival-goers throughout the event.

To receive updates from the police during the festival on anything from traffic problems to beat surgeries then register for text alerts by texting ‘GLASTO’ to 81003. Everyone who registers for alerts will be entered into a prize draw to win a Sony PSP (full terms and conditions available on the police’s Glastonbury microsite – www.glastonburypolice.org).

To register on the Immobilise Database follow these instructions:
Key *#06# on your phone’s keypad to view your IMEI number.

Register by text: Then text REG followed by your IMEI number to 83010 – and Immobilise will reply with your account details and instructions. You will be charged a one-off 25p charge for the return text message.

Alternatively; register online: Visit www.immobilise.com and register for free.

To read the source article in full please go to: http://www.glastonburypolice.org/news/Details.aspx?nsid=20720#nsu-1

The campaign aims to raise awareness among young people about protecting themselves and their property and prevent them from becoming victims of theft. The message is – don’t make your phone a moving target – stay aware when using it in public places.

Posters will go up in secondary schools, youth clubs and at transport hubs across the borough. Police and council officers will be handing out leaflets to young people at bus and train stations and other busy areas.

A key element of the campaign is to get people to register their phone at www.immobilise.com . Doing this can help the police to recover property if is it is stolen and to catch the thieves.

We would advise anyone who has a mobile phone, whatever their age, to register it on www.immobilise.com as soon as possible. If it is stolen, it increases your chances of getting it back. It also helps the police to catch those responsible and bring them to justice – taking robbers off the streets.

When you register your phone on the website, please tell them you heard about www.immobilise.com from the Safer Croydon Partnership.

To read the source article please go to: Metropolitan Police

According to a recent new item on the Wiltshire Police website, the thefts of mobile phones continues throughout this County, although they (Wiltshire Police) have been promoting use of Immobilise for some time now, it is appropriate to remind everyone of the free mobile phone registration service called Immobilise.

Many thousands of mobile phones are lost or stolen each year in the United Kingdom. With you help we can make your phone safer and help to reduce mobile phone crime. The National Mobile Phone Register already holds the details of many millions of mobile phones. Add your details now to protect your phone and help the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) stop criminals.

Exclusive to Immobilise, all account holders registered items and ownership details are viewable on the Police national property database. As a direct result of daily checks on Immobilise there are over 250 cases a week where property is returned to owners, or information collected that assists the Police in investigating criminal activity, involving stolen goods. The recorded information can help you after loss, theft or fire to complete insurance claims, report stolen or lost property to the Police and mobile phone networks.

Immobilise is also the only ownership registration service supported by all the UK Police forces, the Greater London Authority, Transport for London and The Mobile Phone Industry.

Uniquely via your Immobilise account any registered item reported as lost or stolen appears on the Stolen Equipment National Database and CheckMEND allowing them to be identified as stolen by the Police and second hand trade.

Community Safety Officer PC Stephen Fletcher of Wiltshire Police states;

“Immobilise is an excellent FREE service that is easy and perhaps more importantly safe to use. This service has shown real results. With Christmas fast approaching and electronic gifts on many peoples wish lists we would encourage people to take the small amount of time to register items and give themselves the best opportunity to have these returned to them should they go missing. With all UK Police forces on board this is a fantastic service for people to use.”

To read the Wiltshire Police press release in full please go to: Wiltshire Police

For more infromation please go to: http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk

Bristol’s priority crime team want to reduce that number and prevent your home being one of those thousand, and to help they are launching a Spring burglary campaign.

Richard Kelvey, Detective Chief Inspector on the burglary team, said:

We know from previous statistics that there are likely to be 1,000 homes burgled in Bristol in the next three months.

We want to do everything we can to reduce that number and we are working hard but we need the public to be aware of how to make themselves and their homes less vulnerable to burglary.

Surprisingly, around 300 of all those burglaries expected to take place, will happen because someone forgets to lock a back door or leaves a window open. We know it is easily done when you are rushing to get out of the door for work or to get the kids to school – making the property insecure and giving thieves easy access.

Another method for burglars is smashing a small window or glass panel in a front or back door in order to put a hand through and unlock it – which is why keys should never be left in back doors or on nearby surfaces.

People are also advised to keep hard copy photos, receipts and descriptive records of their property as well registering it on national property database Immobilise so that it can be identified in the event it is stolen.

Councillor Gary Hopkins, Bristol City Council Cabinet Member for the Environment and Community Safety, said:

Although burglary rates are going down steadily we want to ensure everyone knows the simple precautions to take to reduce their chance of being burgled.

Avon & Somerset Police have some good tips to keep your home safe:

• Lock it or lose it – always make sure you secure windows and doors before leaving your home, using ALL locks, including deadlocks and bolts on windows and doors.
• If you have an alarm system ALWAYS set it before going out even if it’s only for a few minutes.
• Don’t advertise your home to thieves – never leave valuable items on display in windows.
• Never leave packaging for expensive items out in the recycling box all week: either put it out on the morning it’s due to be collected or take it to the tip.
• If you have a side or back lane on your house make sure it is gated and well lit, so as to not give easy access to your property.
• Use a switch timer and leave a radio when you go out.

To read the source article in full please go to: Avon and Somerset Police

Did you receive a new mobile phone, camera, bike, MP3 player or ‘sat nav’ this Christmas?

They are recommending that the public should Register your personal property at Immobilise.com so that, if your valuables get lost or stolen and police recover it, you’ll get it back. It could also help police officers to get the burglar or robber convicted.

It takes a few minutes to complete the registration, allowing you to create a free, private and secure portfolio of all your personal property.

Inspector Sean Hodgson, Force crime reduction officer, said:

Becoming a victim of crime is an incredibly upsetting experience for people, especially if personal possessions such as cameras or mobile phones are stolen with irreplaceable photos of loved ones and phone numbers of family and friends.

We are asking residents to help us and help themselves by registering all their valuables on the Immobilise database. People can register any item with a serial number.

He added:

Police officers may then be able to return any items they find to their rightful owner. It may also enable officers to secure a successful prosecution.

To read the source article in full please go to: Thames Valley Police Website

© Copyright & Credit: The York Press

In an expansion of the Immobitag cycle tagging scheme run by York Police, Operation Spoke is being launched by the YorkGuildhall Safer Neighbourhood Team, and officers hope thousands more bikes in York will registered in the coming weeks.

Complementing the Immobitag RF tag scheme, this additional initiative works by invisibly marking cycles with a unique registration number which will be stored on the Immobilise Property Register along with details of the cycle’s rightful owner.

PC Jonathan Hodgeon, one of the officers behind the scheme, said:

The unique number will be written on the bike in permanent UV pen, which officers can quickly scan in seconds, and if you don’t own the bike you will have to account for that.

This will help with city centre bike crime and also abandoned bikes will be able to be reunited with their owners. Along with Cycle City York, we are aiming to make bikes as well protected and identifiable as cars.

Sgt Jon Asvadi, who was also behind the launch, said:

There will be a lot of people saying that we are going back ten years with UV marking but it’s only through Safer York Partnership and City of York Council that we have been able to bring together the technology of UV pens, torches and the Immobilise website to create a process which is simple and quick and we know will be successful.

Sgt Asvadi said the data would be entered by vetted volunteers and special constables to ensure regular officers were not tied up.

Operation Spoke registration events will be held in York from January 13 to 17, in Parliament Street, on January 14, from 9am to 3pm, in Front Street, Acomb, on January 21, from 9am to 3pm at Oaklands Sports Centre, on January 23 at Tesco’s Askham Bar store, on January 20 and 21 at St Lawrence’s School and on January 22 and February 8 at the University of York.

To read the source article please go to: The York Press

Greater Manchester Police say January is a peak time for robberies and muggings as people step out with valuable new gifts such as mobile phones and MP3 players. Statistics also show young people are the most likely victims.

In January 2009 there were 56 robberies across Trafford compared to 32 the previous month.

Trafford Division’s crime reduction advisor, Eleanor Kelly, said:

We’re advising people to leave their valuables at home or keep them out of sight when they are out and about on the street, in parks and on public transport.

It’s worth remembering that while most people are out hunting for bargains in the sales, criminals may be on a spree of a different kind, especially in busy high street areas. Most robberies are opportunistic, so by keeping valuables out of view you can reduce your risk of becoming a target.

Also, remember to register your valuables on www.immobilise.com

To read the sources story in full please go to: www.messengernewspapers.co.uk

There have been 26 Operation Relentless “days of action” since its launch in June 2005, which has resulted in more than 2150 arrests.

“Operation Relentless on Property” has targeted thieves and those who handle stolen goods in addition to highlighting crime prevention initiatives to the public to foil burglars and other criminals.

As part of the day of action, police and partner agencies engaged in a range of activities across Somerset. A warrant was carried out in the Taunton area leading to the arrest of a man for handling stolen goods. Vulnerable Vehicle Checks were carried out across the area, inspecting vehicles and identifying those with items of value left on display. The owners of the cars have been sent a letter reminding them to keep items such as phones, MP3s and Satellite Navigation Systems out of sight.

Officers also visited several second hand goods retailers with Trading Standards to ensure that they were complying with regulations and not trading in stolen items. Six arrests were made during the course of the morning. Five men were arrested for theft and another man was arrested for handling stolen goods. Four have been given bail pending further enquiries.

Officers from the district’s CID department also managed to reunite 250 items of detained property with their rightful owners this week.

Detective Inspector Alan West said:

When police receive items of property that have been recovered from thefts and burglaries, officers try to trace the owners of the items to return their possessions to them. If electrical items are registered on Immobilise and other items such as jewellery or antiques are property marked with the owners address or postcode, this process can be straightforward.

However, unmarked or unregistered items can languish in the Detained Property Department unclaimed for long periods and some items can never be linked to an owner. I would really encourage the public to either register their items on Immobilise or mark them with a UV pen or other property marking device so we can return them to you if the worst were to happen. Marking your items can also sometimes act as a deterrent to would be criminals.

Neighbourhood officers and PCSOs were also in Taunton town centre this morning registering people’s property, such as mobile phones, cameras and mp3 players, on the Immobilise website and carrying out bike and property marking. The Deputy Chief Constable, Rob Beckley, joined them in giving festive advice on how to beat the burglars and assisted with a bicycle property marking session. The team will be in the town centre again on January 13 and 21 offering these services for those who had new bikes or electronic equipment for Christmas.

In Bridgwater, officers held a property marking session at Bridgwater College for the students to register mobile phones and laptops on the Immobilise website and officers from Burnham-on-Sea visited King Alfred School in Highbridge and Kings of Wessex School in Cheddar to take property marking kits to mark and record mobile phones and MP3 players. Other property marking sessions also took place in Wellington Square in Minehead and the Town Hall in Dulverton.

DCC Beckley said:

We really want people to have a wonderful Christmas and New Year but we ask them to take some sensible measures to ensure that their festive period isn’t marred by becoming a victim of opportunistic thieves. One-in-four burglaries occur after the householder failed to secure their home and the burglar entered the property via an open door or window!

I encourage people to think about how their house looks when they go out – don’t make it obvious that there is nobody home, leave a light on and the radio playing and most importantly – make sure you lock all doors and windows, even if you are only popping out for a short period of time.

Inspector Nick Greenhalgh from the Community Safety team at Taunton Police Station said people can help protect themselves from opportunistic thieves by employing these simple measures:

• Ensure windows and doors are shut and locked when you are out
• Lock sheds and garages
• Don’t leave car keys left in an outside porch or within reach of letter boxes
• Shoppers are advised not to leave presents in view on car seats. They should be taken home immediately and not left in the vehicle.
• Christmas presents – wrapped or unwrapped – should not be left in view in the home.
• Don’t leave boxes from new TVs or laptops on display outside your home, take them to the tip.
• Register your property on www.immobilise.com
• Mark your property – kits are available from your local police teams.

Further information regarding home security and crime prevention can be obtained from your local Safer Stronger Neighbourhood team. You can contact them by calling 0845 456 7000 or you can log on to our website www.avonandsomerset.police.uk and select the Crime Prevention heading.

To read the source article in full please go to: www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/LocalPages/NewsDetails.aspx?nsid=18923&t=1&lid=5

Officers have recorded a rise in the number of thefts at indoor and outdoor music venues across the country.

They believe pickpockets are targeting top-end mobile phones used by many to take pictures and record acts on stage.

Investigators said surging crowds and booming music can make individuals more vulnerable to theft and help criminals escape. Members of the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU), based within the Metropolitan Police, have warned music venues of the trend.

Detective Superintendent Nev Nolan, who leads the unit, said:

We want all fans to enjoy their concert and to have a good experience.

We are concerned that organised thieves are targeting concerts to steal phones from genuine fans.

A lot of people like to use their mobile phones to film or take photographs of the concert, but will then return the phone to an insecure bag or pocket, where thieves are able to snatch it.

When they discover it is gone, many will simply assume it is lost and simply cancel the sim, without reporting it to the police.

A lot of people will be getting mobile phones for Christmas and we would urge them to keep them safe and to register their phones with the website Immobilise.com.

Source: The Press Association

London commuters Credit: Stuart Coles

According to a recent news item on the BBC site, this year has seen a sharp rise in the number of bike thefts in the nation’s capital, emphasising the need for greater bike security and use of systems like Immobilise.

Police figures have shown that a total of 426 bikes were stolen in Westminster between April and August this year compared to 244 in the same period in 2009 – a 71% rise.

The West End was the worst-hit area in the year 2008/2009 with 436 bikes stolen, the Metropolitan Police said.

London as a whole has seen a 6% rise in bike thefts with 18,218 cycles reported stolen since last April.
Year-on-year figures for Westminster show 1,466 cycles were stolen between last April and March 2009, compared to 1,420 bikes the previous year and 1,277 in 2006-2007.

Across London 17,182 cycles were stolen in 2007/2008, fewer than the year before which saw 18,646 bike thefts.

Ch Insp Glenn Tunstall, who works in the central Westminster area, said thefts had risen as a result of the increase in cycle journeys in London.

He said:

We have increased our patrols, doing high visibility patrols and more proactive work around thefts. As a result since the beginning of the year our arrests have risen by 333%.

But in a lot of these arrests we are unable to trace the owners of these cycles which makes it very difficult for us to achieve justice.

So we are asking members of the public to register with firms like immobilise.com and make a note of their frame numbers and that will allow us to be more effective.

Other boroughs which saw a high number of thefts were Islington, Camden, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth, Kingston, Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea.

To read the source article please go to the BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8207023.stm

Police in Cambridge are urging cyclists to mark their bicycles after an average of nearly 11 bicycles a day were reported stolen in the university city during October.

Just two of the 338 bicycles were reunited with their owners, according to Cambridge News, as thieves targeted new students at the start of the academic year.

Lewis Herbert, a member of Cambridge city council, told the newspaper: “I am worried and very concerned at the risk of a major outbreak of thefts in the autumn and the high theft figures through 2009,” adding that there should be additional secure areas where people can leave their bikes safely.

In the first ten months of 2009, more than 1,900 bikes have been stolen in the city, a 13% increase on the comparable period in 2008, with a 31% increase in October alone compared to the same month last year.

Cambridgeshire Police have launched a campaign called “Lock it or Lose it” to combat the soaring levels of bike theft in the city, with Sergeant Gordon Morgenthaler working together with the council and Cambridge Cycling Campaign to educate cyclists.

Sergeant Morgenthaler told Cambridge News: “Prevention is the ultimate aim, but we also want people to register their bikes on immobilise.com.” The latter provides security tracking services including security tags for bicycles.

This article was orginally published by Simon MacMichael writing for Road.cc

To combat this Police in Bath have been working hard at Freshers Fayres and talking to students generally about keeping property safe. On Friday 2nd October at Bath University Freshers Fayre thousands of property marking UV pens were given out, advice given on crime prevention and hundreds of students registered their phones on www.immobilise.com, a national property register that records details so property can be returned or traced if stolen.

Sergeant Geoff Cannon part of the Community Safety team at Bath Police Station said:

A student house to a burglar can be a playground to take several high value items in one go. Students can keep themselves safe however by just following a few simple guidelines. Keep all high value items out of sight and away from windows where they can be easily seen. Secure all doors to your property at all times and know who has keys to come and go.

News article source: Avon & Somerset Police

Cambridge is one of the worst effected cities as accoring to road.cc there were 1,433 cycle thefts between January- July, prompting a police crackdown on the crime, but there is a massive increase in bikes being stolen during autumn as 30,000 university students arrive in the city.

In October 2006 and 2007, more than 300 bikes were stolen, and this compared to 140 in April 2006 and 170 during the same month in 2007 and 2008. The figure fell to around 225 last year, but due to the increase in bike thefts in other months this year police are expecting a record number this month.

Cambridge City Councillor Lewis Herbert has called for more secure areas for cyclists to leave bikes and told Cambridge News:

I hope the publicity campaign helps but I am still worried and very concerned at risk of a major outbreak of thefts in the autumn and the high theft figures through 2009.

There is organised theft across the city of bikes not locked to fixtures and the problem of new bikes and new students in the autumn. Cycle theft is probably the biggest readily reducible set of crimes in the city and as Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Julie Spence and others like me have said, it needs a far tougher set of initiatives to crack it.

Sgt Gordon Morgenthaler of Cambridgeshire Police has teamed up with Cambridge City Council and the Cambridge Cycling Campaign as well as cycle shops in the city to raise awareness about the crime, and he is asking people to register their bikes on immobilise.com.

For more interesting figures and to read the source article in full please go to: road.cc

Police from the Bolton Central Neighbourhood Policing Team have been at Bolton University all week, marking property and registering students’ laptops and phones on the Immobilise database.

They have also been giving advice and crime-prevention tools displaying GMP’s new student safety campaign logo.

Inspector Phil Spurgeon said:

Every year, we run safety campaigns aimed at providing students with advice to prevent them becoming a victim of crime.

However, for new students in particular, crime prevention is always going to be the last thing on their minds when they are leaving home for the first time and they are likely to think it will never happen to them.

Local neighbourhood officers were on hand to meet and greet the new students and their parents, to remind them of how they can keep themselves and their valuables safe. Safety messages are also being sent each week to student’s phones in the area.

Students can follow simple steps to help stop thieves, including keeping valuables out of sight, always being aware of what is going on around them, keeping to well-lit areas and shutting and locking all windows and doors, even when they are at home.

To read the source article in full please go to: Bolton News

Police in Bath

This week sees the arrival of Bath’s biggest influx of new students at the University of Bath and police are involved again getting in touch with the new students in the city.

Chief Superintendent Gary Davies says;

In an ideal world I would like to be able to send letters to parents of new students before their children arrive in Bath for their time studying here. Mainly this would be a letter of reassurance as we are a safe environment for young people to come to but also to just highlight the ways in which students can help look after themselves by taking notice of some simple crime prevention advice. Our work with the students when they arrive this week will go a long way to keeping them and their property safe. We are also committed to a standard of behaviour in our night time economy and we need to make sure our new residents know how to behave.

At the freshers fayre on October 2nd students will get crime prevention advice, see a rape awareness campaign and have the opportunity to ask questions of officers on issues such as safety and recruitment. Students will also get the opportunity to register mobile phones, ipods and valuable property on www.immobilise.com. Immobilise helps UK police forces to identify the owner of lost & stolen goods thousands of times every day and return items to rightful owners.

Sergeant Geoff Cannon from Bath’s Community Safety Team commented:

When new 1st year students arrive at university the first thing on their mind is rarely to keep expensive property out of sight or to check locks on accommodation or to remember to walk home with people they know and not alone. It is understandable that they are excited and we want to welcome them to our city to enjoy all that it has to offer. Bath police officers are very approachable and this gives students the opportunity to talk to us on the day and to feel confident to talk to us at any time in the future.

Bath police are working on crime reduction at the freshers fayre with Heart FM and thank them for their support. They both continue to promote the message “Bath is a beautiful city we need your help to keep it that way”.

To read the source article in full please go to: Bath Police (Avon and Somerset Police)

With the gates to Glastonbury Festival opening in just a matter of days around 177,000 people will be travelling to Pilton, many of them with mobile phones, digital cameras, iPods and cash in their pockets.

And while the majority of these people will have little more to worry about than what band to watch previous year’s experience suggests that a small number may become victims of crime.

While crime remains low at Glastonbury Festival, there was a rise in thefts from tents last year – particularly in the first two days of the event – and mobile phones proved to be a particular target.

As a result police are this year urging Glastonbury-goers to register their mobile phones and other essential valuables on the Immobilise Database, before heading to the event, so if they are lost or stolen they can more easily be returned to their owners.

The best advice for not getting your stuff stolen while you are at the festival is not to take it with you – but if you do have to take it – make sure its stored securely and wherever possible make use of the festival’s free property lock-ups available throughout the site.

Police will be at the festival, both in uniform and undercover, on horseback, cycles, and on foot to deter any potential criminals but there are also lots of simple things which you can do to keep yourself as safe as possible and reduce the chances of becoming a victim of crime.

Sergeant Kerry Williams said:

Crime at Glastonbury Festival is low and the crimes that do happen can be easily prevented. We’re urging people to plan carefully ahead of this year’s festival and leave any unnecessary valuables at home. However if they do need to take the items with them make sure they are registered on the Immobilise Database and are stored securely by making use of the free property lock-ups.

I would also urge people not to leave anything valuable unattended in their tents and I’d recommend marking their property, which can both deter thieves and help to show who the rightful owner is.

To read the source article in full please go to: Avon and Somerset Police

There was a 64 per cent increase in cycle thefts in March compared to the same month last year.

Some 264 bikes were stolen in Cambridge and surrounding villages, up from 161 in March last year.

That has prompted Cambridge Regional College (CRC) to take action against the thieves.

The move follows a report in the News about police reviving a crackdown on cycle crime.

Russ McPherson, CRC’s security student liaison manager, said:

We are fully committed to combating cycle crime and as such have only this week, as part of the new summer term, reminded students and staff that they can have their cycle coded by the security team at the college with a unique number provided in partnership with Cambridgeshire police and the Immobilise scheme.

We have tagged around 150 cycles in the last term and have helped owners register them on the http://www.immobilise.com website.

The scheme has helped to tackle the scourge of cycle theft.

Mr McPherson said:

Since the introduction of the tagging scheme last September we have had only three reports of stolen cycles from the King’s Hedges site, which helps to prove that tagging cycles is, while not foolproof, a very good deterrent to cycle theft and greatly aids recovery and return to the rightful owners.

To read the source article in full please go to: Cambridge News Online Website

She also stressed the importance of registering property on www.immobilise.com:

We’ve successfully tracked down the owners of items we’ve retrieved. It does actually work.

Detective Inspector Adam Gallop added:

We would ask people in the area to take sensible precautions with regard to personal safety: stick to well-lit areas, don’t carry large amounts of cash and don’t advertise the fact that you may be carrying items such as ipods and MP3 players.

To read the source article in full please go to: Varsity – Cambridge University’s Student Newspaper