Avon & Somerset Police have announced that on Thursday 29 April 2010 between 10am and 3pm the Neighbourhood Policing Team will be at Curry’s on Channons Hill to promote Immobilise.com. Members of the public will have the opportunity to register goods, such as mobile phones, iPods, etc and speak with local officers about any concerns they may have.
For more infromation please go to: http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk
Avon & Somerset Police seized 15 bikes from a property in Burnham-on-Sea in early December, following a search of the premises by officers. The bikes were identified as stolen property and, although five have already been reunited with their owners, 10 are still languishing unclaimed in police custody as their owners couldn’t be traced.
Local officers are keen to remedy this and return the bikes to their owners. An open day is planned at Burnham-on-Sea Police Station on Saturday January 9, 2010 between 4.00 – 6.00pm. Anyone who has had a bike stolen are encouraged to attend to see if any of the cycles are their missing property.
However, PCSO Gill Bawler said:
We are really keen to reunite as many bikes with their owners as possible. I would also like to take the opportunity to encourage people, especially if you have had a new bike for Christmas, to register it on www.immobilise.com or get your property marked. If you get your bicycle security marked it dramatically increases the chances of it being returned should it be lost or stolen.
Further information regarding home security, property marking 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 visit: www.avonandsomerset.police.uk and select the Crime Prevention heading.
To read the source story in full please go to: http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/
South Gloucestershire Police have been peddling cycle security to children in the run up to a force-wide operation encouraging people to mark their property to deter thieves.
The neighbourhood Police Community Support Officers visited Patchway Youth Club and Filton High School and helped the young people to mark their bicycles.
Neighbourhood Sergeant Steve Ives said:
Bike theft is one of the most commonly reported crimes. Bikes are worth a lot of money, so invest in a good-quality lock and use it.
Marking your bike with your postcode does deter thieves, because it means that police can prove it is stolen. You can also register it for free at www.immobilise.com, a secure property database checked by police across the country.
On Saturday December 12 2009 PCSO Rob Hendra visited Patchway Youth Club. He helped youngsters aged between nine and 13 to mark their bicycles and register them on the immobilise website.
Avon and Somerset police are encouraging people to mark their property with a day of events under Operation Relentless today (Thursday December 17 2009).
Chief Inspector Peter Warren said:
While South Gloucestershire is a safe place with low crime levels, people mustn’t be complacent about security. Most of our reported burglaries are from homes which have been left insecure.
Most thefts from cars are when property like a sat nav has been left on view, and thefts of bikes which have been left unlocked. Criminals are opportunists – let’s not give them that chance.
Officers are running bicycle marking events throughout December and January – and offering the chance to win an £150 voucher towards cycling accessories. Visit www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/cyclecompetition for more details. The competition closes on January 31 2010.
To read the source article in full please go to: www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/LocalPages/NewsDetails.aspx?nsid=18902&t=1&lid=2
Police in Bristol are giving Christmas shoppers the gift of burglary prevention as part of the forcewide Operation Relentless day.
Officers in the new “cop shop” at The Mall Bristol, in Broadmead, are inviting shoppers to stop by and have their Christmas purchases registered on a national property database, called Immobilise.
Keith Rundle, Neighbourhood Inspector for Cabot and Clifton, said:
At this time of year people are thinking about getting the last bit of Christmas shopping done and all other things festive. But if someone was to break into your home and steal all those presents Christmas would be ruined and you would be very out of pocket.
Items that can be traced and identified are harder to sell and far less attractive to thieves, so registering on Immobilise can be a deterrent, and if the worst did happen it may help us to reunite property with its rightful owner – if recovered.
We want people to take steps to stop themselves becoming victims of burglary. Visiting our officers in The Mall Bristol or at Curry’s in Channon’s Hill and registering on Immobilise is a good start.
There are also all sorts of additional tips and advice we can give to you on other ways to make your home, and everything in it, more secure – so come and see us.
Immobilise is easy to use and completely free. It is the only national property database that will throw up results through Avon and Somerset Police’s standard checks on recovered stolen property if the items have been registered.
It is also a deterrent to thieves because items that can be traced and identified are harder to sell and can be less attractive to thieves.
To use Immobilise anyone can visit the website www.immobilise.com and open an account and put details and serial numbers of items like laptops, cameras, mobile phones and bikes into the account.
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.
To read the source article please go to: Bristol Police
The Cambs 24 website has reported that advice is being issued to Christmas shoppers in Huntingdonshire to help safeguard their presents from thieves.
Each year gifts are taken from vehicles or from under the Christmas tree in people’s homes. Chief Inspector Russell Waterston from Cambridgeshire police said:
There are often easy pickings for criminals this time of year.
People are in high spirits and are often transporting and storing lots of desirable goods.
But the same precautions should be taken at Christmas time as every other time of the year.
We don’t want to see expensive gifts disappearing from under the Christmas tree before the festivities begin.
Homeowners are being some simple advice:
INFORMATION: Any suspicious behaviour should be reported to Cambridgeshire police on 0345 4564564.
To view the source article please go to: www.cambs24.co.uk
The Haringey Independent has reported that a stolen mobile phone was returned to its rightful owner thanks to the Immobilise National Property Register.
While on patrol on October 27, in Seven Sisters Road, Tottenham, Haringey police’s safer transport team stopped-and-searched a 31-year-old man.
He was found to be carrying a mobile phone which was traced by the police* on website Immobilise.com to a woman who had reported it as stolen in September.
The man was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and bailed to return to police on Monday, November 9.
PC Matt Fathers, of Haringey Safer Transport team, said:
This shows that by having your valuables registered on immobilise.com, the chances of having you lost or stolen property returned to you, are greater.
The stolen mobile has since been restored to the owner who was very pleased.
The free website allows users to register all of their valuables by serial number inlcuding mobile phones, laptops and even bikes.
If the property is stolen you can use the site to alert police, insurers or second-hand traders so that if they come across the goods they can be returned and help catch criminals.
To read the source report in full please go to: Haringley Independent
* The police search the Immobilise National Property Register and other information via their own search portal the NMPR.
The Times recently published an interesting article that is of particular relevance to the Immobilise National Property Register. Richard Ford, a Home Correspondent for the times reported that the latest recorded crime figures support the theory that the in a recession property crimes such as burglary and personal theft increase while violent offences fall.
Keith Bristow, chief constable of Warwickshire, said:
Crime has traditionally increased following periods of economic recession and the three per cent rise in domestic burglary compared to the same period last year is a reminder that we all must remain vigilant.
The Times article contains several interesting facts and statistics and can be found at:
In the last 6 months in Bath and North East Somerset 144 laptops have been stolen (1st April to 30 September 2009), 80 from houses and other dwellings; 24 from commercial burglaries and 9 from vehicles and the rest being general thefts. When new students arrive in the area with new high value items such as laptops, ipods and phones there is an increase in theft as the opportunity to steal is easier with students being less vigilant of their property when they first arrive.
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
road.cc. the popular online cycle news site has published an interesting story concerning and expected rise in bike crime as students return to university this month.
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
The Bolton News has reported that students have been given tips on how to avoid becoming victims of crime.
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