Uttlesford Farm and Rural Watch Newsletter: November 2017
Lead up to Christmas…
Although burglars in rural areas are not as prolific as in urban areas, all house burglaries tend to increase in the lead up to and for a few weeks after the Christmas period. Create the illusion of occupancy- leave lights on or on a timer in rooms you would normally occupy. Keep valuables (and presents) out of sight. Always lock your doors and windows and if you have a UPVC door make sure that it is double-locked. Register your valuables at www.immobilise.com. It’s free and takes just a few minutes and if your valuables are stolen, it will allow you to tell the Police, your insurer and the second-hand trade to assist in recovering your property and catch the thief.
If you have or live near a Christmas orientated business, e.g. Turkeys, Christmas Trees etc, please be extra vigilant for suspicious activity. A large crime at this time could break some smaller businesses that rely heavily on this period’s business.
Chasing Hare Coursers: a cautious note from PS Downes of the new Gypsy Traveller and Rural Engagement Team (GTRET):
“As frustrating as it is, the public must resist the temptation to enter into a pursuit with suspects who will think nothing of causing damage to property and possibly endanger life by their reckless behaviour in an attempt to get away. A vehicle pursuit is a dangerous thing and is only undertaken by suitably trained personnel in suitable vehicles.
On a serious note, if a member of the public involves themselves in a pursuit and the suspects are driving dangerously to get away, then the person in pursuit is most likely doing the same. Should there be a crash and serious injury or death then the following investigation will look at all involved and a prosecution could follow. It is exactly the same for our officers, which is why only trained officers are allowed to engage in a pursuit and our guidelines are very strict to ensure that the risk to the public is minimal.
If you must follow please do so at a distance as long as the driving is within the speed limits and only if the suspects are not aware that you are doing so. You won’t know what they know, so my advice is to let them go and pass the information to police, do not engage in a pursuit.
The best thing to do is to monitor and keep the reports coming in to the control room. Ask them to keep you on the line if you feel that is appropriate. We won’t catch every Hare Courser but we are doing our best to do so and we do need your cooperation.”
Strange markers?
Information has been received about small pieces of reflective tape 1cm X 3cms (ish) being applied to sections of the hedgerow adjacent to a road in the Saffron Walden area. Only three or four were placed (at intervals) but obviously they shine brightly at night in car headlights. Other strange markers found in the Roxwell area are visible drinks cans partly dug into the ground (to keep them in place and visible) often by field entrances. The purpose of these markers are at present unknown but could be linked to night time rural crime, such as Hare Coursing, Night Hawking (use of metal detectors on land without permission) or of course Burglaries. Please be aware. Rural Crime Strategy
The new Essex Police Rural Crime Strategy was launched on 16th November at the Fighting Rural Crime Day at Stow Maries Airfield. The day went well with various partners, groups and organisations invited to the launch in the morning, with members of the public attending the afternoon event. A display was put on by the Police Dog Section and the new Police Drones were demonstrated. Members of the new Gypsy Traveller and Rural Engagement Team (GTRET) were also on hand to meet and answer questions. A number of stands were present including Panther Security displaying farm suitable CCTV and alarm systems, and further security advice was provided by our own Crime Prevention Tactical Advisors. I and my fellow Essex Watch Liaison Officers were also present and it was good to actually meet Farm Watch and Neighbourhood Watch members from our respective areas. For those that could not attend, a copy of the new Rural Crime Strategy will be available on-line in the very near future. I will let you know as soon as I do.
Farm Watch / Rural Watch Database Update
I will shortly be sending around a questionnaire which I hope that you will be able to complete. This is so that I can update the Farm Watch / Rural Watch database for the Uttlesford District and I can send out targeted emails regarding crimes, information and alerts to the right people. For example not all farmers want to know about thefts of horse tack, but some with horses on site will, as will local rural residents that own horses. I will also get a better understanding of our current rural links and where there are gaps. I intend to circulate the questionnaire either later this week or next week, and your cooperation would be greatly appreciated.
Fly Tipping
Whilst it is an offence to tip rubbish, the Police are not the main prosecuting body. If the waste constitutes a lorry-load or more, or contains hazardous waste of any kind, you should contact the Environment Agency or Crimestoppers. The Environment Agency can be contacted via a National Incident Control Centre on 0800 807060. Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555111 - reports can be made anonymously to Crimestoppers. Anything that constitutes a van-load or less, and does not contain hazardous material should be reported to the relevant local authority. Uttlesford: Call 01799 510510 or report online at uttlesford.gov.uk If you see any scale of fly tipping ‘in progress’ this can be reported to Essex Police, who will treat the incident as criminal activity and prioritise according to standard procedures Food for thought
If the Police don’t know about it, they can’t do anything about it. If the crimes aren’t reported, how can requests for additional resources be justified?
Crimes in progress should be reported to the Police by phoning 999 and crimes that have already happened should be reported by phoning 101 or by reporting on-line at https://www.essex.police.uk/do-it-online/report-non-emergency-crime/
Paul Harris, Essex Watch Liaison Officer for Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow and Uttlesford. Email: paul.harris@essex.pnn.police.uk Tel: 07738 736687 (9-5 weekdays)
