Well I really appreciated that last bit of extra sun-shine bringing autum-nal warm and letting us have some last minutes enjoying our gardens and open spaces, however there is no denying that the daylight is getting shorter and it is very dark by 8pm. We have seen the typical seasonal uplift in vehicle crime and burglaries from sheds and garages which always shows an increase as the nights get darker earlier. We realise that lots of people spent money on buying nice bikes through-out the summer and now they are in the shed and garages safely locked up. But are they really safe?
Most sheds are fairly flimsy with weak doors and single padlocks and that is if they are padlocked at all, yet we keep such expensive items in them usually uninsured and unlocked. Would you put £800 in cash in you shed in open view, not in a safe. The answer is probably not, because you would expect it to get stolen. However, many bikes and tools are worth this amount or more and yet stored in sheds and garages unlocked and unmarked. There are so many locking devices that you can buy to secure bikes to your walls and floors, standard D type locks to lock bikes together to stop them being easily removed are better than nothing, please consider making it more difficult for your bike to be stolen. Other options are to register you bike on National Mobile Property register https://thenmpr.com/home . You can also check on here before buying a bargain bike or tools? It may show whether the bike or tools have recently been stolen.
We also have property marking kits available for bikes, stop one of your local PCSO’s and they will be able to help you property mark you bike. Also think about adding a security light (options with wifi connected cameras) in your garden area or areas when your outbuildings are, to alert you of intruders. As a final precaution get a good lock and hasp, and consider a shed alarm. They are fairly cheap but make a loud noise if there is a break which may just scare off the burglars. Take a look on https://www.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/ for further great tips on keeping your property safe.
Please also remember not to leave valuables on display in your vehicles when parking and leaving them. There have been a number of reports of person trying door handles and stealing small items such as Sunglasses, cash, coats and bags. Please remember to lock your vehicle and check it.
It is so much easier to report crime to us and chat with our call handlers now. We have a dedicated on line service https://www.surrey.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/. You can still contact us by phone too, we really need to know what is going on in your local area. If you can help us with an information about any crimes please make contact with us. If you would like to remain anonymous you can also contact crime stoppers 0800555111 https://crimestoppers-uk.org/. We have also upgraded how we retrieve CCTV from members of the public and it is now easy to be sent a link to enable you to upload foot-ages of incidents or suspects straight to us, this is making investigations much quicker and easier to retrieve CCTV footage.
Lastly Halloween – Halloween is a time of reflec-tion for some cultures. It is also a time of dread for some of our more vulnerable people in the commu-nities. More recently in my experience in Spelthorne I saw the most atrocious behaviour by youths across the borough, mainly from the 11-16 year age groups. Please do not allow your teenag-ers out to terrorise people at Halloween. This be-haviour will not be tolerated and anyone found out and about causing criminal damage, letting off fireworks in public places or causing anti-social behaviour will be taken back to their parents and be considered for a visit from the Youth Engage-ment Office and Neighbourhood Specialist Officer. This process will look at whether letters also need to be sent to parents from the Housing providers as well.